A Chinese advance team will reaching Islamabad on November 16 on three-day visit to finalise, before the scheduled visit of Chinese President Hu Jintao with a huge private sector delegation, a 'five-year development plan' for Pakistan, official sources told Business Recorder here on Saturday.
They said that the team, headed by an Assistant Minister, would hold discussions with all concerned ministries at the Economic Affairs Division (EAD) to give final touches to the agreements to be signed, most probably, on November 23 in Islamabad.
"Both countries are negotiating projects of investment of upto $30 billion, and agreements will be signed during the visit of Chinese President," sources said.
They said that all focal ministries have been directed to complete their homework over the proposed agreements to avoid any inconvenience during discussions with the Chinese advance team.
The main projects would be related to infrastructure, new Gwadar international airport (NGIA), new Islamabad international airport (NIIP), establishment of six nuclear power projects, an oil refinery at Gwadar, and a pipeline to deliver its refined products to Kashgar, besides coal mining and power production in Thar.
For the oil refinery, the Ministry of Industries and Production has issued notification recently declaring the refinery area as 'Export Processing Zone' (EPZ).
"We have declared 1811 acres land located at Gaddani, duly demarcated, fenced and bounded to be a zone for setting up of oil refinery project," sources added.
They said that on the North and South is private land, while on the East is private/government land and on the West is Arabian Sea, and the land is owned by Mahmod Haroon.
The Chinese President would make a formal announcement for setting up the oil refinery with a total refining capacity of 21 million tons oil per annum. The project would have two components, including a petrochemical complex and oil storage with an investment of $12 billion.
Sources said that both countries would also sign an agreement regarding establishment of special zones for Chinese companies, besides further co-operation in defence field. A Pakistan delegation, headed by Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Dr Akram Sheikh, has already completed negotiations on different agreements with the Chinese team in Beijing and set the pace for tangible announcements during the visit of President Hu Jintao.
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