Ahsan Iqbal to visit Gwadar next month to review CPEC projects

ISLAMABAD, Apr 22 (APP):Federal Minister for Planning, Development & Special Initiatives Professor Ahsan Iqbal would visit Gwadar soon after Eidul-Fitr to review the progress of China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects.

The Minister on Friday visited the CPEC Authority Secretariat where Executive Director, CPEC, Qammar Sarwar Abbasi, gave a briefing to the minister over the so far progress in executing the projects which is a game changer for the region.

The CPEC Authority was established by the previous government amid great controversy. The Authority is dysfunctional due to duplication in role with line ministries.

Gwadar is one of the central points in the CPEC and it has a huge impact on the country. “Soon after Eidul Fitr, I will visit Gwadar to personally review the projects of CPEC and my top priority is to expedite all the pending projects which remained on slow pace, ” said the minister while chairing the meeting.

The minister will also inaugurate the installation of Solar Project Generation System for households in various parts of Gwadar. The project was launched by the Chinese companies in the city to support the poor household. During the briefing, ED, CPEC, Qammar Ababsi informed the minister that so far 940 Solar Generation systems have been installed for households and a total of 3,000 panels will be installed in order to facilitate the residents.

During the meeting, the Minister also directed the Executive Director, CPEC to invite all Chinese companies working on CPEC projects. ‘I want to meet them next week to listen to their problems so that bottlenecks can be removed to streamline their working.

The Minister also directed to ensure the fool proof security of the Chinese working on various projects and issues pertaining to their visas will be resolved on a priority basis through the Ministry of Interior.

The Minister further stressed that working relations with line ministries should be streamlined to give them greater ownership of CPEC projects.

He said that government officials played a very active and positive role in realizing $29b investment under CPEC. Unfortunately, the previous government created an atmosphere of intimidation which took away the initiative of government officials. The new government will restore the confidence of government officials, he added.