‘GB must be given top priority in development process’

ISLAMABAD: The Interior Ministry on Monday briefed the Parliamentary Committee on China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) about the security of the project and the steps taken by the government for protection of Chinese nationals engaged in development work on the key national project.

Meeting of Parliamentary Committee on CPEC was held here under the Chairmanship of Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed.The committee was informed that a 15, 000 dedicated strong force comprising over 9,000 regular soldiers of the Pakistan Army plus 6,000 personnel of the para-military force would comprise the Special Security Division (SSD) that has been entrusted with the duty of protection of Chinese personnel and projects under the CPEC.

The Ministry of Interior further informed SSD is not a standalone arrangement. It is interlocked with provincial police. All provincial governments were called by the federal government on terms of deployment of SSD. The parliamentary committee conveyed its concerns on delay on the issue and strongly recommended the government urgently to convene a meeting of all provincial governments for the finalisation of Terms of References (TORs) of SSD on priority basis.

Senator Mushahid also presented the report of the parliamentary committee’s visit to Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) and said that GB was the entry point of the CPEC from the Chinese province of Xinjiang. Hence GB must be given top priority in promoting development in various sectors, he added.

The chairman directed that a meeting would be especially held by the Parliamentary Committee on CPEC on GB issue where the chief minister GB would be invited to interact with the Ministry of Planning and Development so that projects of the area on CPEC were pushed swiftly and substantially.

Briefing the committee on role of Ministry of Commerce the Additional Secretary Policy and Planning informed the Ministry was negotiating Phase-II China-Pak Free Trade Agreement (CPFTA) which covers goods services and investments. Using Pakistan-China FTA Phase-II the Tariff Reduction Modality (TRM) can be linked with guided investment from China into the manufacturing sector in CPEC. There have been various efforts at investments from China in auto textiles and electronics in Pakistan.

FAW Dongfeng group is manufacturing pickups and vans. They have also set up a new plant to manufacture 1300 cc cars. Haier is assembling laptops and mobile phones. There is also a new joint venture in knitwear in Faisalabad the first in the textile sector from China. Pakistan has to position itself to attract investment from China in labour intensive sectors e.g textiles, garments, foot wares and paper as rising labour costs have lead to decline in China’s competitiveness.

Responding to the different queries and questions regarding Survey Report on Wind Power Generation Capacity in Balochistan and KP the representative of Ministry of Water and Power stated that Alternative Energy Development Board has boosted the efforts on the already taken steps and measures for the development of wind and solo energy in the subject provinces.

The Secretary Planning also briefed the parliamentary committee on the visit to China of the ministers for Planning and Development and Railways who were there to prepare a comprehensive plan for the up-gradation and dualisation of PRs as part of CPEC from Karachi to Peshawar with the project being worth for eight billion dollars.

The meeting was attended by its members Rana Muhammad Afzal Khan MNA, Dr. Ibadullah MNA, Ghous Bux Mahar, MNA, Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao, MNA, Senator Sardar Fateh Muhammad Hassani, Senator Lt. Gen. (Retd) Salahuddin Tirmizi, Senator Talha Mehmood, Senator Shibli Faraz and Secretary of the Committee Khalid Mahmood.