Planning Minister directs stakeholders to expedite implementation of CPEC projects

ISLAMABAD    –    Federal Minister for Planning Development and Special Ini­tiatives Professor Ahsan Iqbal Tuesday reviewed progress over CPEC projects after the 11th Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC) meeting held last month and Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif’s recent visit to China while direct­ed the concerned stakeholders to expedite the implementation of consensus reached between the leadership of Pakistan and China.

The 11th JCC was held in Oc­tober 27, last month co-chaired by the Professor Ahsan Iqbal and Vice Chairman National Devel­opment & Reform Commission (NDRC), China Lin Nianxiu in which both the sides had agreed to speedup CPEC projects and subsequently several MoUs were signed during the recent visit of Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif to China. The meeting was attended by the Executive Director Chi­na-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), Chief Economist, Plan­ning Commission and representa­tives from various ministries, said a press release issued here.

During the meeting, the con­veners of the Joint Working Groups JWGs on Energy, Trans­port Infrastructure, Gwadar, Socio-Economic Development, Security, Long-Term Planning of CPEC, Industrial Cooperation, International Cooperation, Sci­ence & Technology, and Agricul­ture Cooperation apprised the minister about the progress since the JCC took place. The minister directed the officials to expedite the implementation of ML-1 and KCR projects which were agreed in the 11th JCC and remove all the bottlenecks in that regard. The minister also directed the Em­bassy of Pakistan in China to hold a meeting with the Chinese side to follow-up decisions taken in the 11th JCC and in PM’s visit to China.

He also asked the embassy to arrange an online meeting with the Vice Chairman, NDRC to re­view progress on CPEC projects. CPEC is a vital national project, which has transformed the rela­tion between the two countries into a strong economic partner­ship, said the Minister, adding that the next phase of CPEC en­visages the development of in­dustrial cooperation. He directed concerned ministries to speed up work on Special Economic Zones SEZs for attracting share from relocation of Chinese Industry to Pakistan with low cost of produc­tion. Ahsan Iqbal also directed the officials to coordinate with the Chinese authorities for the early completion of International Gwa­dar Airport. “The Gwadar Inter­national Airport should be func­tional before June 2023, ‘’ said the Minister, while directing the rele­vant stakeholders to engage their counterparts in China so launch could be ensured timely.