CPEC enjoys priority, pivotal for socio-economic development of Pakistan: Gen (retd) Asim Saleem Bajwa

ISLAMABAD : CPEC Authority Chairman and Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Information Lt-Gen (retd) Asim Saleem Bajwa has said that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is a non-political international project and work for its completion is in progress on a fast pace.

“There is no political hindrance in its way. The project is Pakistan’s future as well as a tangible reality and no compromise will be made on it,” the chairman said while talking to a delegation of senior journalists on Wednesday.

Bajwa said Pakistan takes decisions in its interest and there should be no doubt that the CPEC project “is in the best interest of the country”, adding that “no external pressure will be accepted”.

He said that the working plan of both the routes from Khunjrab to Gwadar has been completed and the remaining link routes will be added into the plan in the next few months.

“The second phase of this multibillion-dollar project is crucial for the development of the country and construction work will soon be started.”

CPEC phase-II to generate mass employment, industrialisation: Asim Bajwa

Describing the projects in the second phase of CPEC, Bajwa said, “Special emphasis is on agriculture, industries, trade, and science and technology sectors.”

He said that the highest priority was to make functional the economic zones in the four provinces, adding that Gwadar’s development projects were included in the second phase of the CPEC.

He also said that Pak-China Cooperation Committee would soon conduct a conference.

On the locusts’ attack, which is damaging the crops on a large scale in the country, Bajwa said that China would establish a pest control centre in Pakistan.

“The quality of seeds is being improved to strengthen the crops against infestation,” Bajwa added.

On the scholarship programme, he said that the headway had been made in the programme. “Twenty thousand Pakistani students will go on scholarships to China.”