CPEC presents immense economic opportunities for Pakistan, region: NA Speaker Asad Qaiser

Speaker National Assembly Asad Qaiser has said with improved connectivity between the vast regions of Western China and Central Asia to the Arabian Sea, immense economic opportunities lie for various industrial clusters close to the CPEC routes.

The speaker expressed these views in a seminar as chief gust. The seminar on the ‘Role of Parliament in Promoting Investment, Trade, Export, Commerce and Connectivity under CPEC’ was held at Pakistan Institute for Parliamentary Services organized by National Assembly of Pakistan in collaboration with Friedrich Ebert Stiftung .

Asad Qaiser, Speaker National Assembly was Chief Guest, while Asad Umar Federal Minister for Planning Development and Special Initiatives, Sher Ali Arbab Chairman Parliamentary Committee on CPEC and Dr. Jochen Hippler Country head Friedrich Ebert Stiftung were the guest speakers.

Asad Qaiser, Speaker National Assembly said CPEC project is a fortune for Pakistan that will add to rebuilding the economy of the country. He added that an active and meaningful involvement by Pakistani provinces in CPEC will be central to its effectiveness.

Asad Umar Federal Minister for Planning Development appreciated the CPEC committee initiative to visit various regions in Pakistan and engage with local populations. He added that the government was also visiting various parts of the country during the planning of CPEC projects and it is interesting that the CPEC committee is visiting various places and engaging with public on this mega project. He said that the committees in the parliament are working beyond party line and work in the national interest, CPEC committee is one of them having a representation from various parties working together to oversight the CPEC projects and give recommendations. CPEC being the flagship project of ‘Belt and Road initiative’, it will not only benefit Pakistan and China at the national and regional levels but will also offer opportunities for sub-national collaboration between different regions/provinces of both the countries through sharing of development experience, transfer of technology and industrial/infrastructure collaboration added by Asad Umar. He said that Joint Working Group (JWG) has also been made on agriculture and technology as well to work together with Chinese government in this regard.

Dr. Jochen Hippler highlighted the role of FES for Democracy and Governance, Regional Connectivity, Social Justice and Economy. He added that the CPEC committee and especially the Chairman is playing a wonderful role in pushing the regional connectivity project and the comprehensive exercise undertaken in four provinces and two regions was a good idea to engage with civil society and stakeholders at local level.