Cabinet committee expresses satisfaction over CPEC projects' progress
Asad Umar said the cabinets committee reviewed progress of CPEC projects during the financial year
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – The Cabinet’s Committee on China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) on Thursday expressed its satisfaction over the progress of CPEC projects.
The committee met here with Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar in the chair to review the progress of CPEC. The meeting was attended by ministers and secretaries from 10 ministries.
Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Information and Broadcasting Lt Gen (retd) Asim Saleem Bajwa briefed the committee about the progress of various CPEC projects being executed across the country.
Asim Bajwa, who is also Chairman of the CPEC Authority, in a tweet said as per Prime Minister Imran Khan’s vision, it would be ensured that CPEC’s dividends would reach every Pakistani.
He said the officials from the relevant ministries reaffirmed their full commitment to accelerate work on CPEC projects.
Minister Asad Umar, in a series of tweets, said the cabinet’s committee reviewed progress of CPEC projects during the financial year 2019-20.
He said in the power sector, two projects with capacity of 1,980 MW were commissioned while ground breaking of another was done. Similarly, financial close of two projects was achieved and concession agreements of two hydel projects of 1,800 MW capacity were signed.
Moreover, two infrastructure projects were completed, with ground breaking of another one, while the Planning Ministry accorded approval for three other projects, he added.
“Most importantly the biggest CPEC project so far and the biggest rail project in history of Pakistan, ML-1 got approval from Executive Committee of National Economic Council (ECNEC) to proceed further,” Asad Umar said.
The minister said significant progress had been achieved in the development of Gwadar port city’s infrastructure, which was the linchpin of CPEC. It included ground breaking of Pak-China Hospital and a technical and vocational center.
Phase-1 of a project to supply 5 MGD water from Saur Dam to Gwadar city was also completed, he added.
Asad Umar mentioned that the ground-breaking of first CPEC Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Faisalabad had taken place in January while significant progress was made for setting up SEZs in Dhabeji, Sindh and Rashakai, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. “As we move forward the emphasis on industrial cooperation (with China) will increase.”
He said two areas of emphasis and priority in the next phase of CPEC would be agriculture, and science and technology. New joint working groups had been established for both the areas under the CPEC framework, Asad Umar added.
