Multi-tier mechanism in place for timely completion of CPEC projects

ISLAMABAD: The government has put in place a multi-tier mechanism for hassle-free and timely completion of all short-term, mid-term and long-term projects of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) framework signed recently between Islamabad and Beijing. These projects are worth US$46 billion.
Official sources said that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will personally be supervising these projects for which he has set up the “Prime Minister Delivery Unit” at the PM’s Office. Made up of professionals from the private sector with expertise in different areas relating to the CPEC, the unit will keep an eye on all the projects for daily, weekly and monthly progress reports for the prime minister.
The Cabinet Committee on Energy is also involved while the Ministry of Planning, Development and Reform is the lead ministry for the implementation of the CPEC framework.The sources said that there is also close coordination between the Chinese and Pakistani authorities to ensure that the project is completed smoothly and as per the agreements signed between the two countries.
To review the progress on these projects, a joint review mechanism has also been agreed upon. Under this mechanism, the two sides will meet quarterly for a detailed review of each and every project whereas every second month the two sides will hold a videoconference to evaluate how things are proceeding.
The sources said that unlike in the past, each and every project under the CPEC has been meticulously conceptualised, structured and time-framed by both the Chinese and Pakistani working groups during the last one year. It is said that these projects are not just paperwork but the outcome of detailed studies of present and future requirements in the fields of energy and transport.
The existing energy and transport infrastructure has also been visited by the Pak-Chinese experts and survey teams were fully involved while preparing joint reports which led to the preparation of projects that have been finalised and signed recently.
The sources were confident that the projects under the Pak-China Economic Corridor would not be allowed to become a victim of usual delays and bureaucratic red-tape. It is said that the major chunk of US$46 billion agreements is pure Chinese investment mainly in the energy sector. Such investment would not be reflected on the loan book of Pakistan.
The transport-related projects, it is said, would be completed through soft loans to be offered by China. These loans would be concessional and not commercial. Among the projects signed under the soft loan system and included in the early harvest projects are 320-kilometre-long Sukkur-Multan motorway, 120-kilometre-long Thakot to Hawalian road, upgrading of Karakoram Highway, 19-kilometre-long Gwadar port East Bay Expressway Project and the project to develop Gwadar and establish an airport there. These projects, it is said, will cost around US$4 billion.
The sources said that presently the Pak-China authorities are working on the feasibility of Peshawar-Karachi railway system, which is a long-term project involving US$4 billion soft loan. China wants timely completion of all these projects including the early operationalisation of the Gwadar Port as the corridor offers China an alternative route to the Arabian Sea, reducing its dependence on the maritime route.
The proposed corridor will connect the northwestern Chinese province of Xinjiang with the Pakistani port of Gwadar through a network of roads, and provide Pakistan with much-needed economic infrastructure, especially power-generation plants.
Such is the great future of this corridor for Pakistan and China that soon after its announcement during the Chinese president’s visit to Islamabad, India got really disappointed and started criticising the project as a Pak-China move to corner India.