ISLAMABAD: The federal government decided to remove bottlenecks in the implementation on Main Line-1 (ML-1) Railway and Karachi Circular Railway (KCR) projects in line with the agreements reached between Pakistan and China during the recent visit of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to China.
Sources in the Planning Commission told Gwadar Pro that the Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal gave these directions during a special meeting held here to help implement the decisions taken between the leadership of China and Pakistan recently.
The minister also directed the officials to implement the decisions taken at the 11th Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC) and remove all the bottlenecks in that regard.
The minister also directed the Embassy of Pakistan in China to hold a meeting with the Chinese side to follow-up decisions taken in the 11th JCC and in PM’s visit to China.
He also asked the embassy to arrange an online meeting with the Vice Chairman, NDRC to review progress on CPEC projects.
The meeting also reviewed progress made over the China-Pakistan Economic
Corridor (CPEC) projects in line with the decisions taken at the 11th JCC
held on October 27.
The meeting was attended by the Executive Director China-Pakistan Economic
Corridor (CPEC), Chief Economist, Planning Commission and representatives
from various ministries, said a press release issued here.
During the meeting, the conveners of the Joint Working Groups on Energy,
Transport Infrastructure, Gwadar, Socio-Economic Development, Security,
Long-Term Planning of CPEC, Industrial Cooperation, International
Cooperation, Science & Technology, and Agriculture Cooperation apprised the
minister about the progress since JCC took place.
The minister said that CPEC is a vital national project, which has
transformed the relation between the two countries into a strong economic
partnership, adding that the next phase of CPEC envisages the development of
industrial cooperation.
He directed concerned ministries to speed up work on Special Economic Zones
(SEZs) for attracting share from relocation of Chinese industry to Pakistan
with low cost of production.
Ahsan Iqbal also directed the officials to coordinate with the Chinese
authorities for the early completion of Gwadar International Airport.
“The Gwadar International Airport should be functional before June 2023,”
said the minister, while directing the relevant stakeholders to engage their
counterparts in China so launch could be ensured timely.
