2nd phase of CPEC: Pakistan team to visit China in May: minister

Ahsan Iqbal shared that the digital revolution currently under process in the global arena will completely revolutionize the world in the next 10 years

By Mehtab Haider

March 28, 2024

Federal Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal chairs the first steering committee meeting to implement 5Es development framework on March 27, 2024. — PID

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal said on Wednesday that a high-powered Pakistan delegation was expected to visit China probably in the first week of May 2024 for promotion of ties and accelerate implementation of second phase of China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

In a brief chat with journalists after attending a prize distribution ceremony of Intelligent Project Automation System (IPAS) here on Wednesday, the minister said the government has decided to form a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) to probe the highly condemnable killing of Chinese nationals at Dasu project.

Earlier in his address, the minister said that all those who were spreading political instability were the worst enemies of Pakistan. He said that Pakistan was passing through an economic crisis where debt servicing consumed all resources and even it had to borrow to pay back whopping debt repayments of Rs8,000 billion.

He said the government had to borrow more to meet all other expenditure heads including defence, development, salaries, pensions and running of the government. He said Pakistan would have to abandon import substitution strategy with export led growth.

If Pakistan’s economy achieves growth of 5 percent till 2047, then the size of the economy could go up to $1.2 trillion, if growth clinched 7 percent, then it could go up to $2 trillion and if achieved 9 percent, then the size of the economy could be jacked up to $3 trillion till 2047.

Stressing on the importance of digital upgrade of public sector organizations, Ahsan Iqbal shared that the digital revolution currently under process in the global arena will completely revolutionize the world in the next 10 years. “The way we live, work and learn will be fully automated in near future,” the minister stated.

Intelligent automation systems have eased everyday processes in all public sector organizations across the developed world. Therefore, there is a pressing need for Pakistan government to automate its processes on priority.