Chinese billionaire Jack Ma’s unplanned visit to Pakistan causes a stir

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 remained 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.

Throughout the visit, Jack Ma shied away from speaking with the press and representatives of the government. He lived in a discreet area and flew out on June 30 in a private aircraft with the registration number VP-CMA that was owned by Jet Aviation.

Despite the fact that the reason for Ma’s visit is still unknown, Ahsan believes that it would eventually benefit Pakistan. This is according to The Express Tribune.

Ma was joined by a group of seven businesspeople, including one American, one Danish, and five Chinese nationals. They used a chartered aeroplane from Hong Kong’s corporate aviation industry to go from Nepal to Pakistan.

On social media, there have been several rumours regarding Ma and his team looking into business prospects in Pakistan, including going to trade centres and meeting with influential businesspeople and representatives from different chambers of commerce. There has, however, been no proof of any particular commercial talks or transactions.

Ahsan stated in a tweet that Ma’s travel was only for personal reasons. He said that it was interesting that not even the Chinese embassy was informed of Ma’s visit and activities there.

According to P@SHA Chairman Zohaib Khan in an interview with the Express Tribune, “Although it was a personal visit, it helped improve Pakistan’s reputation from a tourism standpoint.” Khan said that Pakistani officials ought to have seized the chance to meet Ma and benefit from his extensive knowledge of the IT industry. Even a word from Ma on Pakistan’s IT industry, he said, would have a big influence.