Bakhtiar-led team leaves today for talks with China

CPEC forum to discuss industrialisation, socio-economic development

BEIJING: Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Reform Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtiar will arrive here on Tuesday along with a high-level delegation to attend the 8th Joint Coordination Committee (JCC) meeting on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), scheduled to be held on Thursday.

Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah, Gilgit-Baltistan CM Hafiz Hafeezur Rehman, Balochistan Information Minister Zahoor Buledi, Gwadar Port Authority Chairman Dostain Jamaldini, Planning and Development Secretary Muhammad Ali Kakar, CPEC Unit Chairman Hafeez Jamali and senior officials of the ministries and departments concerned will also participate in the meeting.

The officials from Pakistan and China will discuss upgrading of the main railway line from Peshawar to Karachi, extension of the Thakot-Raikot section of Karakorum Highway (KKH) and construction of a new international airport at Gwadar.

The two sides will discuss the establishment of a hospital, a technical education school and a power plant in Gwadar.

They will also discuss setting up of Special Economic Zones (SEZs) and cooperation to speed up the industrialisation process in the country.

The Cabinet Committee on CPEC has already approved the signing of a framework agreement for industrial cooperation, paving the course for setting up SEZs.

The officials will also discuss ways and means to enhance cooperation in the energy and oil and gas sectors during the JCC meeting.

A joint working group of the two countries on socio-economic development, which was constituted during the recent visit of Prime Minister Imran Khan to China, will discuss various aspects of poverty alleviation, socio-economic development and cooperation in the agriculture sector.

A day before the JCC session, the working groups of the two countries will hold a meeting to give a final touch to the recommendations.   According to an official, the working group on energy has already finalised its recommendations.

The working groups of the two countries on industrial cooperation, transport and Gwadar have also developed consensus.