Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Reform Khusro Bakhtyar has said that significant progress has been made on ML-1 project of Pakistan Railways of $ 9 billion and it has been decided to speed up work on it to launch groundbreaking in the next six months.
After the meeting of 9th Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC), Minister Khusro Bakhtyar along with Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Yao Jing while addressing a news conference on Tuesday said that a committee has been constituted to evaluate terms and conditions for financing of ML-I Railway Project.
Bakhtyar said that Pakistani and Chinese sides have agreed to take forward the cooperation in various sectors under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
The minister said that working for installing fencing on Pakistan-Iran boarder has been started. He said that work on fencing along Pakistan-Afghanistan board already continues.
He said that a total portfolio of energy project is about $12 billion p and the projects of $4.2 billion would be completed in 2021. He said that new energy projects of 6390 MW would be launched in future.
He said that the government of Pakistan this year took several important decisions that paved way for finalization of Gwadar Master Plan and preliminary design of ML-1 project, operationalization of Gwadar Port and free zones. "We made steady progress in resolution of matters regarding finalization of tariffs for the completed energy projects, Gwadar port concession agreement and Kohala hydropower project," said the Minister.
He said that the 9th JCC meeting remained very productive and many decisions have been taken to increase industrial cooperation between both the countries.
In oil and gas sector, he said, investment to the tune of $ 8 billion to $10 billion can be attracted in next two to three years and work will be expedited to achieve this goal. He said that China is big importer of copper while Pakistan has big resources of copper and other minerals. He said that there would textile cooperation between the both counties.
He said discussion was also held in depth by both sides to enhance steel production capacity of Pakistan. The minister said that work on Western Route of CPEC will be expedited. He said that 300 MW power plant has been inaugurated in Gwadar and it is part of development of the coastal city.
He said development of Gwadar and establishing free trade zone in the city are among foremost priorities of the government.
In agriculture, both sides discussed how to increase agriculture production as well as marketing of agriculture products.
Answering a question about use of Chinese currency RMB for execution of new energy projects, the minister said, "We are also discussing this option and State Bank of Pakistan and economic experts would discuss and finalize it."
Khusro Bakhtyar said that remaining portion of the Eastern Corridor from Sukkur to Hyderabad (M-6) will be completed in BOT mode under the umbrella of Public Private Partnership and urged Chinese companies to take active part in the bidding process.
He recommended that JCC accords priority to remaining portion of Western Corridor and the provincial projects proposed in previous JCCs. This year in March, the Zhob-Quetta section of the Western Corridor was inaugurated and now the remaining portion of DI Khan-Zhob is a priority for the government of Pakistan.
He said that the government will provide facilitation to various sectors. He said potential of over 200 million population of Pakistan can be harnessed for the benefit of CPEC.
The 9th meeting of the Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC) of the CPEC has not included any new project in the CPEC portfolio, however signed three MoUs.
Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Yao Jing said that China has set new direction to future cooperation with Pakistan on development projects of industrial zones, oil and gas, minerals, steel mills and housing scheme under China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.
He said, "We have made successful discussion for setting new direction for second phase of CPEC projects relating to ML-I Railway project, industrial zones, projects relating to minerals, oil and gas and new technology to improve capacity building of agriculture sector. This direction would help future cooperation with Pakistan for development of South Asia."
He said, "We are satisfied with the 9th JCC meeting. China successfully completed energy and infrastructure projects during the last six years." He said that China has launched social sector projects relating to social sector including health, education and vocational training.
Earlier, the 9th Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC) Meeting was held on Tuesday in Islamabad which was co-chaired by Federal Minister for Planning, Development & Reform Makhdum Khusro Bakhtyar and Vice Chairman National Development & Reform Commission (NDRC) Ning Jizhe.
Chief Minister Balochistan Jam Kamal Khan, Chief Minister KP Mahmood Khan, Chief Minister GB Hafiz Hafeez-ur-Rehman, federal ministers and secretaries, Chinese Ambassador Yao Jing, provincial secretaries, visiting Chinese members delegations and representatives of leading companies were also present on the occasion.
During the proceedings, a ceremony was held wherein Multan-Sukkur Motorway of the Eastern Corridor was inaugurated. Gwadar Master Plan was approved and signed. The ceremony also witnessed the signing of two MoUs; one between All China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU) and Ministry of Planning for further strengthening the worker exchanges and another on Healthcare between Ministry of Health and (Research Development International (RDI).
In his opening remarks, while welcoming vice chairman NDRC and his delegation, the minister said that Pakistan appreciates the Chinese leadership for the support it has resolutely extended to the cause of Jammu and Kashmir.
He highlighted that ML-1 is also a top priority project for Pakistan and the stage is set to take the discussion to next level and formulate a Joint project financing group to discuss the modalities. He added that the government has established CPEC Authority which will work as a one window for all CPEC related issues so that we can fasten the pace of the projects and remove all bottle necks for efficient implementation of the projects.
The minister expressed optimism that meeting will have meaningful consultation to formulate the roadmap for cooperation in the 2nd phase of CPEC and hoped that it will yield tangible progress towards shared goal of making CPEC a resounding success.
Appreciating the warm welcome accorded by the government of Pakistan, VC NDRC Ning Jizhe said that delegation from China for 9th JCC is the biggest as compared to previous delegations which shows commitment of China to take cooperation with Pakistan to new heights.
He stated that high consideration will be given to socio-economic and industrial cooperation in the second phase of CPEC. He underscored that bilateral economic cooperation will proceed as planned for the mutual benefit of both brotherly countries.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2019
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