ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday emphasised the benefits of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) to be equitably distributed among the federating units.
He stated this while chairing a high-level meeting where he was briefed on the progress made in the recently-held 6th meeting of the Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC) on CPEC that was held in Beijing on December 29. He expressed satisfaction over the progress on CPEC-related projects and said international investors due to the government’s successful economic policies were showing keen interest in investing in Pakistan.
About establishment of industrial parks, the prime minister directed the federal authorities to initiate the process of providing electricity, gas and telecommunication to the proposed sites. The prime minister was briefed on a 300 MW power project that had been signed and the project is set to start soon. Moreover, the Gwader water supply project, hospital, technical institutes and mass transit railway project in the provincial headquarters were also discussed in JCC at China.
It was further briefed that China had agreed to consider and examine Indus Cascade projects in CPEC. The prime minister congratulated the Water and Power Ministry for securing the US $ 1.5 Billion Lahore-Matiari Transmission Line project agreement to be funded under CPEC and directed to actively pursue its implementation.
He also felicitated the Pakistani team for inclusion of mass transit projects in the four provinces and directed Railways Minister to facilitate the provinces by giving his ministry’s technical advice for project feasibilities. The meeting was attended by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, Minister for Water and Power Khawaja Muhammad Asif, Minister for Planning, Development and Reforms Ahsan Iqbal, Special Assistant to PM Tariq Fatemi and Secretary to PM Fawad Hassan Fawad.
