PM urges roadmap for national water policy

Pakistan, China firms to build $200m glass manufacturing complex

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday emphasized on following an integrated approach for conservation, storage, management and efficient utilization of available water resources.

The premier expressed these views while chairing first meeting of the National Water Council (NWC) at the PM Office.

Pointing out that no significant attention was paid to water-related issues in the past, he underscored the need for chalking out a comprehensive road map in consultation with provinces and other stakeholders for implementing the National Water Policy (NWP).

He highlighted the issue of water scarcity to meet growing demands of the country's increasing population. PM Imran observed that NWC would serve as an effective platform to discuss and develop consensus among stakeholders on issues pertaining to water resource management.



Water Resources Secretary Shamail Ahmad Khawaja briefed the meeting about the contours of NWP and the strategic priorities set in the policy.

He also apprised the meeting about the existing water availability and planned future investments especially towards enhancement of the storage capacity.

The secretary further presented various proposals regarding the implementation of National Water Policy. WAPDA Chairman informed about progress on various water storage and power generation projects.

PM Imran said proposals should be analyzed by the steering committee under the water resources minister. The steering committee would submit its recommendations within two weeks.

Finance Minister Asad Umar, Planning and Development Minister Khusro Bakhtiar, Power Minister Omar Ayub, Water Resources Minister Faisal Vawda, National Food Security Minister Sahibzada Mehboob Sultan, Advisor to PM Malik Amin Aslam, Chief Minister Sindh Syed Murad Ali Shah, Chief Minister KP Mahmood Khan, Chief Minister Balochistan Jam Kamal Khan, Chief Minister Gilgit Baltistan Hafiz Hafeez-ur-Rehman, Prime Minister AJK Raja M Farooq Haider Khan, provincial ministers, federal secretaries, chief secretaries and senior officials attended the meeting.

Meanwhile, Deli China and JW SEZ Group have joined hands for establishing a $200 million modern glass manufacturing complex in Pakistan for the production of premium, export-quality glass products.

In this regard, the groundbreaking ceremony was held at the Prime Minister’s Office where prominent businessmen, government officials and a Chinese delegation were present.

Commenting on the initiative, Prime Minister Imran Khan said initiatives like ‘Make in Pakistan’ were immensely important for the economic development of the country.

“We need to promote such initiatives and the government will fully support such projects which are aimed at producing jobs and boosting the economy,” he said. “This investment is an indication of foreign investors’ confidence in the market of Pakistan.”



The two sides have established Deli-JW Glassware Company Limited for the project. Pak-China Investment Company is facilitating Chinese investment in Pakistan and is also assisting in financing the project.

The project will utilise natural resources in Pakistan and use latest technology to convert into glassware, float glass and other kinds of glass products.

The project will be set up in the Industrial City M-3, Faisalabad whereas the unit for the processing of key raw material will be set up in Risalpur, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

The main glass manufacturing complex will comprise glassware manufacturing units, float glass units and other value-added glass products. The groundbreaking for phase-I of the project was held on Thursday and it will start production by the end of 2019.