CPEC to become a key component of Pakistan’s development strategy: PM Imran Khan

Islamabad: Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that the multi-billion-dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) will become a key component of Pakistan’s development strategy.

The PM said CPEC projects will be completed at any cost as it exhibited the strong ties between Pakistan and Iron Brother China.

The PM chaired a high-level session to review the progress of CPEC projects which was attended by Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa, foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, finance minister Shaukat Tarin, planning minister Asad Umar, Advisor on Commerce Abdul Razzaq Dawood and other senior officials, said a statement released by the Prime Minister’s office.

PM Khan also said that youth should be prepared as the mega economic project will generate employment opportunities in Pakistan.

The PM expressed satisfaction over the progress of ongoing projects of the CPEC, said the statement. He said that the present government had completed various projects of the previous governments during the last 2.5 years.

The PM said his government was paying special attention to the establishment of special economic zones (SEZs). “The Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) led federal government expedited development work on Rashkai, Dhabeji, Allama Iqbal Industrial City and Gwadar Industrial Zone,” he added.

The premier said local and foreign investors have shown interest in the industrial zones. He vowed that CPEC projects will be completed at any cost as it exhibits the strong ties between Pakistan and China.

On the directions of Prime Minister Imran Khan, the pace of work on the CPEC projects has been accelerated. In December last year, the Ministry of Communications had released a video of the CPEC projects. As per details shared by the ministry, the construction of two important motorways had been completed.

Hakla-Dera Ismail Khan motorway would be opened for traffic in June next year, while 40 per cent of construction work of the Khuzdar-Bisma project has been completed.

Construction work on the Khushab Awaran motorway will commence next month, while the tender for the Sukkur-Hyderabad motorway has been issued.

Work on the second phase of the Swat motorway will commence next month, according to the communication ministry. New projects including, Sukkur-Hyderabad, Mangla-Mirpur, Giglt Shandoor Chitral motorway and others will be sent to the Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC) after approval from the Joint Working Group (JWG).

Federal Minister for Communication Murad Saeed had said that people are getting better travel facilities while foreign investment was increasing in Pakistan through CPEC.

Saeed thanked workers of Pakistan and China, experts and especially security forces for ensuring foolproof security of the mega projects.