Power Division told to swiftly approve G-B energy policy

Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Ahsan Iqbal on Tuesday chaired a meeting to review preparations for the upcoming 11th Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC) huddle, which would be held at the end of current month.

Planning Commission secretary, communication secretary, China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Centre of Excellence executive director and representatives of various ministries attended the pre-CPEC JCC meeting. It held discussion on major projects that would be taken up in the meeting.

It was noted that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif would visit China later in the current week and the 11th JCC held great significance since the government had already revived China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects.

The meeting discussed several projects in the areas of energy, transport, information technology, socio-economic development, industrial cooperation, science and technology, transport, infrastructure and international cooperation.

The planning minister directed the Power Division to expedite the approval of energy policy for Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) so that projects that had already been agreed could be pushed forward.

Citing that Chinese authorities had shown great interest in the mining sector, he directed the ministry concerned to draw up a tangible proposal.

“Chinese are ready to set up a working group on the mining sector, therefore, we must come up with some tangible proposals,” the minister said, while stressing that the ministries should formulate a concrete plan rather than taking “business-as-usual” approach.

He also called for including a development and production facility for solar panels for domestic use as well as export in the agenda of the JCC.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 19^th, 2022.

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