Long-term plan for China-Pakistan Economic Corridor to be approved next month, says Pak minister

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A long-term plan for the multi- billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor will be approved by a joint cooperation council at a meeting next month, a senior Pakistani minister has said.
By: PTI | Published: October 26, 2017 5:33 PM
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A long-term plan for the multi- billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor will be approved by a joint cooperation council at a meeting next month, a senior Pakistani minister has said. (Image: IE)

A long-term plan for the multi- billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor will be approved by a joint cooperation council at a meeting next month, a senior Pakistani minister has said. Minister for Interior and Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal has directed all the stakeholders and provincial governments to firm up their projects and explore further options of mutual interest to be taken up at 7th Joint Cooperation Council (JCC) meeting, Dawn reported. He made the announcement while presiding over a meeting held here to review implementation of the ongoing CPEC projects and preparations for the future projects to be made part of the long-term plan.

The nearly USD 50 billion CPEC is a planned network of roads, railways and energy projects linking southern Pakistan, and the Gwadar Port, to China’s restive Xinjiang Uyghur autonomous region. India has been severely critical of the CPEC, saying the project violates its sovereignty as it runs through Pakistan- occupied Kashmir. This is the same long-term plan that Iqbal had said would be finalised during the One Belt One Road summit in May. He later promised that the plan would be made public once it gets finalised.

The progress review meeting on CPEC projects was attended by senior officials and representatives of provincial governments, Federally Administered Tribal Areas, Gilgit- Baltistan, Azad Kashmir and officials of the Chinese Embassy in Islamabad. The JCC is the apex decision-making forum on the CPEC that is jointly chaired by the planning and development minister and the vice chairman of National Development and Reform Commission of China. The meeting was informed about some obstacles to the Karachi Circular Railway project by the Sindh government. Iqbal directed the Ministry of Railways to resolve all outstanding issues relating to the project within a week.

The railways ministry was also directed to streamline work on the Mainline One project and finalise its financial arrangements at the earliest. Reviewing the progress of special economic zones (SEZs), the minister asked the provinces to complete feasibility studies of their respective SEZs by the first week of November in order to get tangible outcomes with respect to industrial cooperation. The Board of Investment was directed to review the feasibility studies so as to resolve any outstanding issue and ensure uniformity in the development pattern.

The board was also advised to undertake reforms for transforming the body into a modern investment agency to meet expectations of foreign investors. The minister said that relocation of labour-intensive industry from China would benefit Pakistan to seize opportunities for bolstering the local industry as it would create 85 million jobs. He said the Chinese side had been asked to fast-track implementation of projects in Gwadar and announced that the prime minister would soon perform the groundbreaking of Gwadar airport and 300 MW coal-fired power plant. Besides the power plant, the electricity transmission and evacuation project for Gwadar was also under implementation to facilitate the entire Makran coastal belt.

http://www.financialexpress.com/wor...approved-next-month-says-pak-minister/907770/

 

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CPEC long-term plan
EditorialUpdated October 28, 2017
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After suffering from a series of delays, the long-term plan, or LTP, for the China Pakistan Economic Corridor is now ready for finalisation at the seventh meeting of the Joint Cooperation Committee to be held in Islamabad on Nov 21.

At the last JCC meeting held in December 2016, the plan was discussed and both sides agreed that the “LTP shall be finalised and approved by March 31, 2017, at the latest” according to the minutes of that discussion. But that date came and went, and we were told that the document was awaiting the signature of the then prime minister who was a bit caught up in his Panama Papers-related entanglements.

Then we were told that the LTP would be finalised during the One Belt, One Road summit held in Beijing in mid May. But the government delegation returned from the summit promising that the plan would be finalised in a couple of weeks.

Since the details of the plan had already been published by Dawn while they were away, we were also promised that immediately upon its finalisation, the full LTP would be made public to dispel some of the anxieties caused by the particulars. Then the trail went cold.

ARTICLE CONTINUES AFTER AD
This is the first time we have heard of the plan since then, and Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal has again repeated his commitment to make it public after finalisation. Whatever may have been the reasons for the delay, the fact that we now have a date for finalisation is progress, and the minister must be held to his promise of disclosure.

The LTP is the most detailed long-term plan that has ever been proposed for Pakistan, and its ramifications for the economy are deep and broad.

Contrary to the image of CPEC as an enterprise involving roads and power plants, the LTP shows that the real nature of the engagement with China that is about to begin goes far beyond infrastructure investments and enhanced connectivity.

The real game of CPEC appears to be to prepare the economy, society and culture of Pakistan for a massive influx of Chinese investments and personnel. This could indeed prove to be a positive development, and provide the economy with a boost given the scale of the investments being contemplated.

But the public has a right to know exactly what is being negotiated under this arrangement, and to assess and debate its merits. There can be no two opinions about this.

As soon as the plan is finalised at the next JCC meeting, the clock will start ticking for Mr Iqbal to deliver on his commitment and make a full disclosure of all the contents of the LTP.

A redacted or abbreviated version will not do. Full disclosure is what he promised, and that is what he must ensure.

Published in Dawn, October 28th, 2017