CPEC projects to benefit all provinces: Ahsan Iqbal

ISLAMABAD: The infrastructure projects to be undertaken under China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) will benefit all provinces of the country generating billions in revenue and providing shorter land routes for international trade.

With constant statements from politicians, Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal has a job to complete and that is to keep political parties informed to remove their apprehensions on routes and projects of CPEC.

A bicameral parliamentary committee on CPEC has taken upon itself to keep national consensus on the gigantic project and it needs to continue working to bring harmony among provinces.

It is a fact that CPEC projects worth $ 46 billion will be spreading over all the provinces.

CPEC spans 3000 kilometers connecting western, central, and eastern routes in Pakistan with Kashghar in Xinjiang in western China. Four of the projects of CPEC among a large of number of projects are indicative of the benefits that will be reaped by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The projects include upgradation of Karachi-Peshawar main railway line and Havelian to Khunjrab rail track.

Others are Havelian Dry Port for a container facility and project of 700 MW Hydro-Electric Suki Kinari project in the province. After briefing Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Pervaiz Khattak during a visit to Peshawar, Ahsan Iqbal told media last week that the original master plan of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) would be followed. So with so much at stake for Pakistan, PTI should show restraint in its statements and stay with the facts on the CPEC project.

According to the minister, western route of CPEC would be completed on priority basis and would be made functional in December this year. No change had been made in the western route of the project, he insisted. A Chinese embassy spokesperson in a recent statement has stated that CPEC will bring development and benefits to the people of Pakistan.

The CPEC has won support from the people of Pakistan and China, he added.
He said China was 'ready to work with the Pakistani side to actively promote construction of CPEC projects, and bring tangible benefits to the peoples of the two countries'.

Construction of CPEC will take a long time and will be built in a step by step manner.

According to a Chinese official, 'the building of the economic corridor is a systematic work that will take a long time. It will be constructed in a step by step manner following scientific planning.

China is all set to make joint efforts with Pakistan to implement the project, make long term plan and push for new progress in the building of the economic corridor. Pakistan sees CPEC as an opportunity of the century leading to economic integration of Pakistan and China.