Economic corridor not be made controversial: Ahsan

ISLAMABAD: Minister for Planning, Development and Reforms Ahsan Iqbal has said that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project should not be made controversial by giving misleading statements and once again emphatically denied in the National Assembly any change in its route or priorities.
“The CPEC project, being dubbed in the world as a game-changer and fate-changer for Pakistan, will serve all the federating units,” he assured in the National Assembly while making a policy statement on Wednesday.
The minister clarified that Gwadar-Khunjerab would be connected through multiple routes including eastern, western and central alignments.
He said the work on the eastern route was a year back and it would be made operational before the other two alignments by 2016.He assured that the government would look after the interests of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Balochistan more as these provinces had been worst-hit by terrorism.
The minister said CPEC was a national project and making it controversial would not be any service to the country.Ahsan Iqbal said that some forces including a neighboring country was perturbed over the mega Chinese investment in Pakistan and spitting venom against it. “The federating units and the political parties should not believe in negative propaganda unleashed against the project and avoid giving controversial statements about it,” he added.
He said the government was ready to give a briefing to the political parties on the project in order to remove their misperceptions.He said the corridor project was not just the name of one road but it envisaged development of energy projects, port, roads and industrial collaboration with China.
He said M-8 and N-85 were being constructed in order to connect Gwadar with other parts of the country. He said Gwadar Port development also included construction of an international airport in order to fully make it a gateway for the corridor project.
Ahsan Iqbal also clarified that Pakistan was not getting a single dollar in loan for the energy projects. “The Chinese private sector will invest $35 billion to $37 billion in energy sector and this would help overcome the electricity shortages,” he added.
Ahsan Iqbal said Pakistan was now being considered as a safe haven for investment after the Chinese decision to invest $46 billion. “This is called ‘change’ and it has occurred,” he said and added that the Chinese investment would augur well for the country and also attract investment from other parts of the world including United States, Europe and the Middle East.
The minister said the country with 200 million population, rich resources and talented manpower was destined to achieve milestones in the economic field.He said the confidence of foreign investors stood restored in Pakistan with improvement in security and economic indicators. “The dream of economic development and prosperity will be realised by ensuring peace and stability in the country,” he added.