The Pakistan China Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCJCCI) has called for early construction of the Mainline-1 (ML-1) project, which links Karachi to Peshawar through a modern rail track. The demand was made by Moazzam Ali Ghurki, the PCJCCI President, while chairing a meeting of the chamber’s executive body. He termed ML-1 project as the backbone of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). Ali Ghurki maintained that CPEC was a corridor linking Pakistan's Gwadar Port on the Arabian Sea with Kashgar in northwest China, highlighting energy, transport and industrial cooperation.

He said the ML-1 project involved upgrading a 1,163-mile colonial-era track from Karachi to Peshawar to carry high-speed trains. On the occasion, PCJCCI Senior Vice-President Fang Yulong said that Pakistan had agreed to increase the cost of ML-1 from $6.8 billion to $9.85 billion, on the demand of Chinese negotiators as the previously estimated cost was unrealistic. The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) has already approved the $10 billion Mainline-I Project of Pakistan Railways.

The joint chamber's Vice-President Hamza Khalid said that the project was one of the mega projects of CPEC because it could be expected to eventually become part of an extended CPEC outreach to Jalalabad, Afghanistan. “It would ultimately provide rail links from the Afghanistan capital Kabul to the Indian Ocean, greatly enhancing its ability to engage in global trade.” He said China had already indicated it was ready to invest in Afghanistan by funding additional railways extending from Uzbekistan to Kabul and from Iran to Herat.

“On the other hand, if we don’t start the ML-I project immediately, the mainline of Pakistan Railways is likely to collapse within a short span of time.” On the occasion, PCJCCI Secretary General Salahuddin Hanif said that China once again proved to be a great friend of Pakistan by approving 90% finances for the project, which would be provided by the Chinese government through the government concessional loan, while the remaining amount would be contributed by Pakistan. He hoped that this project would help enhance multilateral trade relations in near future.

Credit : Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk