WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 31: Pak-China economic corridor: government asked to follow agreed mechanism

ISLAMABAD: The Chinese government has warned the government that the agreed Pak-China economic corridor projects should be processed as per the agreed mechanism; otherwise, in case of any deviation from the agreed process, it could adversely impact bilateral future co-operation, it is learnt. According to the sources, these views were expressed in a meeting of a finance team of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government with the EXIM Bank team held on December 24, 2014 in Economic Affairs Division (EAD).
It was also said in the meeting that minor issues involved in the finalisation of commercial contract should be avoided in the interest of time, friendly co-operation and passing on benefits to the people of Pakistan. It was also suggested that Ministry of Planning, Development and Reforms (MPDR) and EAD should prevail upon the sponsors to quickly bridge the negotiation gap on the principles of co-operation and commercial aspects should constitute no bottleneck so the negotiation gap could be narrowed further.
From the Chinese side, it was promised to have a discussion with the contractor. The Chinese official stated that in the interest of mutual co-operation, the Bank would be ready to consider 100 % financing of the project and subcontract a portion to the local contractor as well. For future projects, he stressed that financially viable projects with keen sponsors should be considered for inclusion in the Pak-China economic corridor so there is a sustainable development.
It was also discussed in the meeting that in the category of special infrastructure projects, all financially unviable projects can also be considered if these are important for social development of the people of Pakistan. The Chinese official further suggested that MPDR should seek a progress report/comments on Framework Agreement of Infrastructure Projects from National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) as they may be ready for an exchange.