CPEC’s second phase to bring investment in Pakistan

AS was expected, the appointment of Khalid Mansoor as Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has a salutary impact on the overall progress of various projects and a visible movement towards the much-talked-about second phase.

This became evident from what the SAPM said at a news briefing on his return from China where detailed discussions were held with the Chinese leadership on different aspects of cooperation under the umbrella of CPEC.

As Khalid Mansoor has the necessary background and experience of handling Chinese entrepreneurs, his appointment was widely acclaimed and considered as a good omen for meaningful progress on otherwise slow-paced projects.

It was, therefore, a matter of satisfaction that most of the irritants that marred physical progress of different projects have been removed and one can expect the work would pick up momentum once again as originally envisaged.

On his recommendation, the Government of Pakistan has adopted a futuristic approach as for as attracting Chinese investment is concerned.

In a major policy decision, Pakistan has decided to exempt Chinese investors from about 37 approvals for investment projects, besides completing prior actions like payment of dues to power producers and creating a revolving fund for future interest payments to the existing investors to brighten the prospects of investment in phase-II of the multi-billion-dollar CPEC initiative.

According to him, the Pakistani side presented detailed proposals for investment and aid and the Chinese leadership promised to consider them and respond at a later stage.

Given the repeated commitments made by the top leadership of China to strengthen economic collaboration with Pakistan and pursue the CPEC initiative vigorously, there is no reason for further delay in execution of projects and programmes provided the Prime Minister and the Special Assistant personally monitor the progress.

Waiver of approval for Chinese investors is, indeed, unprecedented and hopefully this would have a desired impact on attracting investment including relocation of Chinese businesses to Pakistan.

It is also important to note that core interests of the country would continue to be guarded religiously as investment so made would be subject to audit and violation of the law would entail penalties and other fallouts.

The seriousness of the Government is also reflected in the move to the change in investment regime through amendments to the Special Economic Zones Act.

Over and above the institutional measures aimed at facilitating investment, the Prime Minister held out a personal commitment to the Chinese side that he stood by these arrangements and would himself immediately address any problem that the Chinese investors may come across on top of the institutional arrangements like the CPEC Authority, Cabinet Committee on CPEC and Pak-China Relations Steering Committee.

We hope that special attention would also be paid to investment in water reservoirs and hydel power projects as well as speedy clearance and implementation of ML-I projects that are deeply linked to the progress and development of Pakistan.