The federal government decided to remove bottlenecks in the implementation on Main Line-1 (ML-1) Railway and Karachi Circular Railway (KCR) projects in line with the agreements reached between Pakistan and China during the recent visit of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to China. Sources in the Planning Commission told Gwadar Pro that the Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal gave these directions during a special meeting held here to help implement the decisions taken between the leadership of China and Pakistan recently. The minister also directed the officials to implement the decisions taken at the 11th Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC) and remove all the bottlenecks in that regard.

The minister also directed the Embassy of Pakistan in China to hold a meeting with the Chinese side to follow-up decisions taken in the 11th JCC and in PM’s visit to China. He also asked the embassy to arrange an online meeting with the Vice Chairman, NDRC to review progress on CPEC projects. The meeting also reviewed progress made over the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects in line with the decisions taken at the 11th JCC held on October 27. 

The meeting was attended by the Executive Director China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), Chief Economist, Planning Commission and representatives from various ministries, said a press release issued here. During the meeting, the conveners of the Joint Working Groups on Energy, Transport Infrastructure, Gwadar, Socio-Economic Development, Security, Long-Term Planning of CPEC, Industrial Cooperation, International Cooperation, Science & Technology, and Agriculture Cooperation apprised the minister about the progress since JCC took place.

The minister said that CPEC is a vital national project, which has transformed the relation between the two countries into a strong economic partnership, adding that the next phase of CPEC envisages the development of industrial cooperation. He directed concerned ministries to speed up work on Special Economic Zones (SEZs) for attracting share from relocation of Chinese industry to Pakistan with low cost of production. Ahsan Iqbal also directed the officials to coordinate with the Chinese authorities for the early completion of  Gwadar International Airport. 

“The Gwadar International Airport should be functional before June 2023,” said the minister, while directing the relevant stakeholders to engage their counterparts in China so launch could be ensured timely. 

Credit: Independent News Pakistan-INP