Islamabad, 30 December 2021 (TDI): China and Pakistan conducted meetings of the two Joint Working Groups on Gwadar and Socio-Economic Development. The meetings were held virtually.
Abdul Aziz Uqaili, Secretary at Planning Development & Special Initiatives, and Deng Boqing, Chairman of China International Development Cooperation Agency (CIDCA) co-chaired the 3rd meeting of Joint Working Group on Socio-Economic Development under CPEC.
The agenda of the meeting was to review the progress of existing projects and deliberate upon probable new projects to improve collaboration in the Socio-Economic Development under CPEC.
The Group was established to ensure that economic dividends of CPEC projects reach the less developed areas and peoples’ livelihoods are improved. It was established in November 2018 under the CPEC framework.
Both sides communicated satisfaction with the continuous progress of the 1st Batch (17 Fast Track) projects as well as the 2nd Batch (10 Priority) projects in spite of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Convenor from the Pakistani side thanked the Government and people of China for their gracious support to Pakistan in its fight against the Covid-19 Pandemic, particularly the timely provision of vaccines.
Moreover, he also expressed gratitude to his Chinese counterparts for their support and assistance to the Government of Pakistan in the realm of socio-economic development. The Chairman of CIDCA who was the Convenor of the Chinese side reaffirmed China’s emphatic support for the people and Government of Pakistan.
He stated that the ‘two iron brothers have always supported and helped each other.’ Besides, Pakistan supported China in the early stage of the pandemic, and such help is highly appreciated.
Pakistani side on its part shared the suggested 3rd Batch of projects for review of Chinese counterparts. After due consultations with stakeholders including all Provinces, AJK, and Gilgit Baltistan, the projects were finalized.
During the meeting, it was further decided to enhance bilateral collaboration and execution mechanisms at the working level on both sides by forming sub-committees.
Representatives of Federal Ministries and all the Provincial Governments, AJK and Gilgit Baltistan as well as 11 relevant departments of the Government of China attended the meeting. In addition, the respective Embassies also joined the meeting.
