ISLAMABAD:
As part of their three-day visit to China, Federal Minister of Planning, Development and Reform Ahsan Iqbal and Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif held several meetings to discuss the progress on energy and infrastructure projects of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.
The high-powered delegation met with several leading financial institutions. Iqbal said the meetings helped in developing a roadmap for faster execution of economic corridor projects, particularly with reference to the mode of financing.
Almost all the groundwork including land acquisition, policy interventions and other necessary arrangements have been finalised. This will make the investment environment all the more conducive for execution of Early Harvest Projects.
“The projects in the energy sector will help Pakistan overcome shortages and boost economic growth whereas infrastructure and transportation projects will improve connectivity and give a boost to trade between the two countries,” said Iqbal.
“Gwadar is the gateway to the economic corridor and it will be developed into a modern port city,” he said.
He announced that a meeting of the Joint Coordination Committee overseeing the economic corridor would be held in Pakistan by the end of August. The delegation also discussed the agenda for the meeting.
Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif also held meetings with the heads of the Chinese corporate sector and emphasised the need for timely execution, quality control, transfer of technology, localising production, joint collaboration, personnel training and community social welfare in projects.
The delegation included Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Tariq Fatemi, Secretary Water and Power Nargis Sethi, Secretary Planning, Development and Reform Hassan Nawaz Tarar and others.
They met with the Chinese National Development and Reform Commission, the China Development Bank, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the Exim Bank, the National Energy Administration and heads of Chinese corporate sector.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 9th, 2014.
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COMMENTS (6)
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@Inzar Gul: The Chinese are financing the Motorway in case you forget. They do not want a Motorway to go through an area which is troubled and where there is violence. Either the government accepts the Chinese request to reroute the motorway or it will not get funding. What do you not understand about this? Hopefully when peace and stability return to the rest of the nation, the planned motorway going through parts of Baluchistan and KPK can be built too but the point of Chinese investment is for China to have a secure route to transport goods too.
@Inzar Gul: it means we should failed this master plan by our own hands. lahore-karachi motorway is already under construction and u want that we should build gawadar-quetta-peshawar motorway. this route passes through all big cities of sindh,punjab and KPK. who says you to that punjab sindh and KPK big cities are very developed except lahore and islamabad. but you should visit and you will know the truth. can you tell me how many industries are working in balochistan? and in other provinces of pakistan? if this route pass through quetta. then it will be 99% more like suicide. even these routes are not safe to travel. am i wrong.
@Abdullah: That is the whole point, why create the route through areas that are already developed and have large populations? Experience has shown increase in urbanisation along routes of commerce and this would have been a boost to the downtrodden masses of Baluchistan and KPK. Baluchistan is the same province where Gwadar port has been built, and several other large scale industrial projects are being executed as we speak so no major issue building a road. Infact, it might serve as a source of employment for them at the same time. I repeat, this Government is only catering for Punjab. Maybe separation from such a government is the only way to get your rights.
@Inzar Gul: you think if we want to build roads in balochistan. balochis will welcome us. but it is not true. this planned route almost passes through big cities. from multan,sukhur,hyderabad,faisalabad,lahore,karachi,islamabad,etc.which all have high population than whole balochistan.
What has conveniently been ignored is the re-routing of the corridoor from KPK/Baluchistan to Punjab. Previously, it would have brought unprecedented economic development to the smaller provinces but now an already urbanised and relatively well-off Punjab will reap the benefits. But what else would you expect from a PML-N government. A Government of the Punjabis, by the Punjabis and for the Punjabis.