The Express Tribune daily claims that Jack Ma, a Chinese billionaire and co-founder of the Alibaba Group, caused a sensation when he unexpectedly visited Pakistan.
Pakistan-based The Express Tribune is a daily newspaper published in English.
Ma landed in Lahore on June 29 and stayed there for 23 hours, according to Muhammad Azfar Ahsan, a former chairman of the Board of Investment (BOI), who confirmed the visit to The Express Tribune.
Government representatives and the media weren’t approached by Jack Ma during the visit. He lived in a discreet area and flew out on June 30 on a private aircraft operated by Jet Aviation and bearing the registration number VP-CMA.
Although Ma’s visit’s objectives are now unknown, there is optimism that they would benefit Pakistan in the near future.
Ma was accompanied by a delegation of seven businessmen, five of whom were Chinese, one was Danish, and one was American. They travelled from Nepal to Pakistan on a chartered flight operated by Hong Kong’s corporate aviation industry.
On social media, there have been numerous rumours regarding Ma and his team looking into business opportunities in Pakistan, including going to trade centres and meeting with influential businesspeople and representatives from various chambers of commerce. There has, however, been no proof of any specific business talks or deals.
Ahsan stated in a tweet that Ma’s travel was only for personal reasons. It’s interesting to note that not even the Chinese embassy was informed of Ma’s visit and activities there.
“Although it was a personal visit, it helped improve Pakistan’s reputation from a tourism standpoint,” P@SHA Chairman Zohaib Khan said in an interview with the Express Tribune.
Khan believed that Pakistani officials ought to have seized the chance to meet Ma and learn from his extensive IT industry knowledge. Even Ma’s comments about Pakistan’s IT industry, according to him, would have a big impact.
Source- NDTV
