Ahsan Iqbal chairs review meeting on CPEC Phase two

ISLAMABAD   –   Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Professor Ahsan Iqbal on Tuesday directed all Working Groups (WGs) to prepare concept papers on five new corridors, proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping in August last, including growth, livelihood, innovation, green energy and regional connectivity for CPEC Phase-II. “The concept papers for all CPEC Phase-II projects should be completed as soon as possible, aligning with these five new corridors,” he said while chairing a review meeting on CPEC projects. Among others, the meeting was attended by Secretary Planning Awais Manzur Sumra, secretaries of concerned ministries and senior officials. Ahsan Iqbal informed the meeting that Pakistan and China have agreed to initiate work on these five corridors, which were aligned with Pakistan’s 5Es framework (Export, Energy, Equity, E-Pakistan and Environment) for its economic development. Elaborating the five new initiatives, he said that under the Livelihood Corridor provision of the best amenities to the people and creating employment opportunities were included. Under the Innovation Corridor, the minister said new projects would be initiated through modern technology and imparting information technology skills to the youth. While the CPEC would be used to promote connectivity and establish more friendly relations with Central Asian states under the Open Regional Cooperation, he said. He expressed confidence that comprehensive documents on these five corridors would be prepared by the end of current month, which would be shared with the Chinese leadership in due course of time. The planning minister also directed the ministries concerned to prepare five-year plans under the CPEC portfolio for submission in the Joint Cooperation Committee, stressing to hold regular meetings of joint working groups in September so that the next five-year CPEC strategy could be evolved. “Our aim should be industrial and commercial development and increase in foreign investment,” he said adding long-term projects be included in the working group with sector-wise breakup. Ahsan Iqbal gave a 15-day timeline to all the ministries concerned to submit their CPEC-related projects.