Completion of CPEC to help achieve economic, industrial goals: NA Speaker

ISLAMABAD: Speaker National Assembly Asad Qaiser said that the completion of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) would help Pakistan achieve its economic and industrial goals.

The speaker said this while talking to Chinese Ambassador Nong Rong who called on him at Parliament House on Wednesday. While discussing the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), the speaker said the CPEC was a game changer not only for both the countries but also for the whole region. He said that the connectivity would open new opportunities for trade, which would become sources of prosperity for this region. He said that it would significantly contribute in bringing socio-economic development in Pakistan.

He said that Parliament out rightly stood with the CPEC; therefore, a series of seminars had been arranged to mobilise stakeholders, intelligentsia, and other segments of the society to increase effectiveness of the project. He invited the Chinese ambassador to attend a seminar being organised by the Parliamentary Committee on CPEC in Peshawar on 13th November.

Referring to the inauguration of the recently completed Rashakai Special Economic Zone project, the speaker said that it would prove a milestone in the industrial development of the country. He informed that the prime minister would inaugurate the Special Economic Zone on 21st November, 2020.

He said that the cooperation between both the countries was rapidly expanding and Pakistan confidently counted on Chinese support at international and regional forums. He underlined the need for cementing parliamentary contacts for further cementing those ties.

He asked the ambassador to convey his good wishes to the chairman of the Chinese National People’s Congress, and to reiterate invitation already extended to him to visit Pakistan. The speaker also wished good luck to Ambassador Nong Rong on his ambassadorial assignment to Pakistan.

Ambassador Nong Kong said that relations between the two countries were exceptional and gaining strength with the passage of time. He said that cooperation between China and Pakistan was a clear depiction of the commitment of leadership of both the countries towards each other. The ambassador said that completion of 1st phase of the CPEC would open new avenues of development for the people of the region. He informed that with the advent of 2nd Phase of the CPEC, socio-economic, industrialisation, agriculture and scientific and technological sectors would be focused. He added that the completion of the CPEC would change the destiny of the region and would unleash a new era of Pak-China relations.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020