LAHORE: China-Pakistan Economic Corridor has an opportunity to bring Pakistan into global economic mainstream, said Excellence Center of CPEC Executive Director and PIDE Joint Director Dr Safdar A Sohail on Tuesday.
Addressing a CPEC awareness session arranged at the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) Regional Office Lahore, Dr Sohail highlighted various opportunities and structural bottlenecks in the utilisation of CPEC.
He said that China is a time-tested friend of Pakistan and “we could not restrict commercial presence of Chinese here”.
“Proper enforcement and implementation of CPEC is our responsibility, while the government and military establishment’s role in this regard is highly significant.”
Mian Rehman Aziz, Regional Chairman and Vice President of the FPCCI, said that the business community wants early completion of game changer project of CPEC so that Pakistan could enjoy the fruits of massive Chinese investment.
The business community of Pakistan is poised to offer all-out cooperation to the Chinese companies involved in the CPEC projects.
Rehman said that the masses and the business community are looking forward to this project, while the government has assured full security to the Chinese staff working on it.
The FPCCI would play its role in creating synergies between Chinese and local companies for which all the chambers of commerce will be taken on board, he said.
Saarc Chamber of Commerce and Industry Vice President Iftikhar Ali Malik said that it is a great opportunity for Pakistan, which should be fully utilised, as it is meant to provide economic advantage, a land route to China and integration with different nations.
“The total funding offered by China to Pakistan under the CPEC is $46 billion, of which $34.4 billion has been allocated for the energy sector to add over 17,000MW to the national grid; $9.8 billion would be made available for transport-related projects and $0.8 billion for the Gwadar Port,” he said. Pakistanis have the most favourable view of China and maintaining close relations with the neighbouring country is the central part of Pakistan's foreign policy.
“China has supported Pakistan through thick and thin and its support had always remained without strings,” he added.
Sheikh argued that the government should have maintained stable petroleum prices
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