Islamabad, 22 November 2022 (TDI): Federal Minister for Planning, Development, & Special Initiatives, Ahsan Iqbal reviewed the status of the CPEC projects. He instructed concerned parties to swiftly execute the consensus reached between the leaders of Pakistan & China.
The review came in the wake of the 11th Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC) meeting held last month and Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif’s recent visit to China.
In the 11th JCC, which was co-chaired by Professor Ahsan Iqbal and Lin Nianxiu, Vice Chairman of China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), last month, both parties agreed to speed up the CPEC projects.
As a result, several Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) was signed during Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif’s most recent trip to China.
The Chief Economist, Planning Commission, Executive Director of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), and representatives from various ministries all attended the meeting.
The Minister was informed about the developments since the JCC by the conveners of the Joint Working Groups on Energy, Transport Infrastructure, Gwadar, Socio-Economic Development, Security, Long-Term Planning of CPEC, Industrial Cooperation, International Cooperation, Science & Technology, and Agriculture Cooperation.
He instructed the officials to remove any obstacles standing in the way of the ML-1 and KCR projects that were approved by the 11th JCC.
Moreover, the Minister further instructed the Pakistani Embassy in China to meet with the Chinese side to discuss decisions made at the 11th JCC and during the visit to China by the Prime Minister.
In order to review the status of the CPEC projects, Ahsan Iqbal also requested that the Pakistani Embassy in China set up an online meeting with the Vice Chairman of NDRC.
As stated by the Minister, CPEC is an important national initiative that has transformed the relationship between the two nations into a solid economic partnership. He also noted that the next stage of CPEC will focus on the growth of industrial cooperation.
In this vein, he gave instructions to relevant Ministries to expedite the creation of Special Economic Zones SEZs to capture a portion of the Chinese industry’s relocation to Pakistan at a low cost of production.
Ahsan Iqbal also instructed the officials to coordinate with the Chinese government in order to hasten the completion of the International Gwadar Airport.
The Minister stated, “The Gwadar International Airport should be operational before June 2023,” and instructed the pertinent parties to contact their Chinese counterparts to ensure a timely launch.
