Seven projects for KP included in CPEC: Khattak

NOWSHERA: Chief Minister Pervez Khattak has said that seven projects for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have been included in the multi-billion dollars China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

Talking to reporters upon his return from his visit to China here, the chief minister said that projects including lying a railway track from Karachi to Peshawar, construction of Diamer-Bhasha Dam, construction of a road and railway line and fiber-optic from Gilgit to Havelian, establishment of industrial estate, construction of a road, highway and railway line from Peshawar to Dera Ismail Khan and construction of a road from Kohat to Jhand, which would be linked with the route of the CPEC, are part of the CPEC.

Similarly, he said that an alternative alignment for the CPEC would also be constructed from Gilgit to Chitral as well.

The chief minister said that these projects were of high value to the province and had enhanced the strategic importance of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He said that the provincial government was doing its best to take full advantage of the fortune changer project.

He said the provincial government was also working on various projects from its own resources.He added that the government was upgrading the technical centres to prepare skilled workforce for the CPEC projects. He said the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-led Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government had relaxed rules to attract foreign investors.

He said the province had vast potential for producing cheap hydel power and bestowed with natural resources and the government wanted to utilise these resources to put the province on the path to development.

The chief minister maintained the government would launch a mass transit project with the financial support of Asian Development Bank to solve traffic problems in the provincial capital.Pervez Khattak said that Chinese investors would visit Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the coming days and invest in the province.

He said that he had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with various universities during his China visit, which included students exchange programme, establishment of a Centre for Excellence and other training programmes.

He hoped that the federal government should address the reservations about the CPEC by holding an all-parties conference on the issue.He said that all technical training centres in the province were being upgraded in the context of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor to prepare skilled workforce to put the province on fast track development.

He explained that 11 technical training centres have already been handed over to air force while rest of the training centres would be developed with the assistance of Frontier Works Organisation and private sectors.

He said that the provincial government was taking steps for the development of the province in transparent manner and that is why international investors were being attracted to the province for investment.