Work on all CPEC project is in full swing: Abdul Razaq Dawood

ISLAMABAD: Adviser to the Prime Minister for Commerce, Textile, Industry, Production and Investment Abdul Razaq Dawood on Sunday denied rumors regarding slowdown in activities under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

Abdul Razaq Dawood in a series of tweets on Sunday said that for the past three days, some statements attributed to him with reference to an informal interview have been deliberately shared on certain sections of the media.

“I categorically deny the perception about slowdown in activities. Anything else is either out of context or falsely assumed,” he said.

“There was a discussion on the [first] and [second] phases of CPEC and that phase [one] concentrated on addressing the energy situation and building power plants. The [second] phase of CPEC, focused on cooperation in agriculture, technology and industry, and was the main part of the discussions,” he added.

The adviser said that work on CPEC is going on in full swing, adding that CPEC remains one of the top priorities of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government. He said that the next phase of CPEC will focus on the development of industries and agriculture in the country.

Earlier on Friday, Prime Minister Imran Khan said that the government has signed a new agreement with the independent power producers (IPPs) under which the cost of electricity generation would be brought down and circular debt would be reduced.

“I congratulate the nation because we are fixing the damaging structure we inherited in our power sector,” the prime minister said in a series of tweets.

The prime minister promised that he would soon introduce a package that would focus on improving the distribution system by tackling line losses and theft.

On Thursday, the government and IPPs had finally reached an understanding on reduction in the rate of return on equity and Late Payment Surcharge (LPS), and sharing of savings on account of plant efficiencies. A memorandum of understanding (MoU) containing 13 points was also signed between the two parties.