Federal Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal has urged officials to clear bottlenecks and expedite Main Line-1 and Karachi Circular Railway projects under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
The planning minister reviewed the progress of CPEC projects on Tuesday; he directed the concerned stakeholders to expedite the implementation of the consensus reached between the leaderships of Pakistan and China.
The 11th JCC was co-chaired by the planning minister and Vice Chairman National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China Lin Nianxiu. Both sides agreed to accelerate CPEC projects, and several MoUs were signed during Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif’s recent visit to China.
During the meeting, the conveners of the JWGs on energy, transport infrastructure, Gwadar, socio-economic development, security, long-term planning of CPEC, industrial cooperation, international cooperation, science and technology, and agriculture cooperation updated the minister on progress since the JCC.
The minister ordered authorities to speed up ML-1 and KCR projects agreed upon in the 11th JCC and remove obstacles.
The minister also urged the Pakistani embassy in China to follow up on decisions made at the 11th JCC and during the PM’s visit. He also instructed the Pakistani embassy in China to schedule an online conference with the NDRC vice chairman to examine CPEC projects.
The minister said CPEC changed the two countries’ friendship into a strong economic alliance. The next phase of CPEC involves industry cooperation, he said.
Iqbal told officials to work with Chinese authorities to finish Gwadar International Airport quickly.
CPEC’s Executive Director, the Planning Commission’s Chief Economist, and ministry representatives participated.
He instructed ministries to speed up work on Special Economic Zones (SEZs) to capture a piece of the Chinese industry’s low-cost move to Pakistan.
