Islamabad: Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Ahsan Iqbal said on Friday that China Pakistan Economic Corridor (Belt and Road Initiative) (BRI) has become a transformative force in the region as a flagship project. For Pakistan.
The Minister said that CPEC will promote cooperation and development in agriculture, industry, information technology and science sectors for both countries.
Minister and Vice Chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) Li Chunlin co-chaired the 13th Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC) meeting. At the beginning of the meeting, Li Chunlin praised Pakistan’s planning minister for his serious commitment to CPEC and his active role in its development.
Ahsan Iqbal has chaired 10 of the 13 JCC meetings held so far, according to Li Chenli.
The meeting was attended by the Minister of Federal Privatization, Minister of Communications, Minister of Federal Information Technology, Secretary of Planning, Secretary of Energy, Secretary of Communications, Board of Investment.
In the JCC meeting, the Pakistani side appreciated the view of the Chinese leadership in upgrading the second phase of CPEC by including this new corridor which is in line with Pakistan’s 5E framework.
Speaking on the occasion, Ahsan Iqbal said, “We are ready to work with the NDRC to determine the size and implementation plan of this corridor. Both sides are committed to this common vision and together, both countries have embarked on a common dream journey, joining hands to build quality development projects “
Last year, Pakistan and China celebrated ten years of high-quality development and closer CPEC partnership.
At the ceremony, the minister declared five new corridors proposed by Vice Premier He Lifeng President Xi Jinping, including Development Corridor, Life Improvement Corridor, Innovation Corridor, Green Corridor and Opening/Regional Connectivity Corridor, opened.
Ahsan Iqbal said that Gwadar Port has been commissioned and several infrastructure and social sector projects have been completed. He said these developments are essential to transform Gwadar into a smart port city, which will significantly improve the lives and livelihoods of the people of Gwadar and the adjacent coastal areas.
As we shift our focus from government-to-government (G2G) to business-to-business (B2B) partnerships in the next phase of CPEC, we emphasize quality development in industrialization, agriculture, science and information technology. .
Ahsan said now is the time to attract investors and manufacturers to increase the number of Special Economic Zones, develop Gwadar as a business district and create quality tourist spots in Gwadar. “To this end, we propose to sign an Alliance to promote cooperation in this area,” he said.
He said that the second phase of CPEC has started, but a lot of work needs to be done. “We are making progress in developing four priority SEZs namely Rashakai SEZ, Allama Iqbal Industrial City, Dhabeji SEZ and Bostan SEZ. However, we need to improve China’s experience in this field,” he said.
“To build our SEZ similar to China’s SEZ, we need the support of your technical experts to regularly advise our SEZ authorities and this can be facilitated in the Industrial Cooperation Framework Agreement recently signed by both parties,” he said.
“We are actively looking for Chinese industry to move to this SEZ, and Chinese companies can move their manufacturing units to this SEZ and benefit from cheap labor, high investment returns, and easy and cheap access to global markets. The government proposes to hold a Business Forum Pakistan-China in collaboration with NDRC between Pakistani and Chinese companies,” he said.
Since its inception in 2013, Ahsan said CPEC has made steady progress in the power sector: “We have successfully completed 16 projects with a capacity of 82,020 MW, including two coal mines and a +660 kW HVDC transmission line. The total investment in this project is about 16 billion dollars. The 884 MW Suki Kinari Hydroelectric Project, currently valued at $1.707 billion, is expected to be commissioned by November 2024.”
He said 21 electricity projects, including two hydro (Azad Pattan 700 MW and Kohala 1124 MW) and one coal (Gwadar), three power projects of 2124.7 MW worth USD 4.157 billion in the initial stage to achieve financial closure. The Chinese side is to support the initial implementation of this project.
