‘Pakistan to become hub of industrial cooperation’

ISLAMABAD: China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) was entering into the next phase of industrial cooperation, which would make Pakistan a manufacturing hub and epicentre for connectivity in the region, a senior official said on Monday.
“The successful execution of the ongoing projects shows strong commitment and resolve of both countires to execute every single project under the CPEC framework in letter and spirit,” said Shoaib Siddiqui, secretary planning, at a senior officials meeting (SOM) held before the 7th session of Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC) on CPEC currently underway in the federal capital.
“The government and the people of Pakistan are committed to complete this mega project through firm determination, coordinated efforts between the government functionaries and the line ministries.”
Welcoming the Chinese delegates at the SOM, Siddiqui said the pace of work and fast track execution of the projects of the corridor was quite satisfactory since most of the schemes
underway were following the timelines agreed between the Chinese and Pakistani side.
“I hope that keeping in view the progress of projects in the energy, infrastructure sectors and Gwadar, the completion of early harvest projects would be in time and on par with the international standards,” he said.
The secretary maintained that Pakistani people as a nation and the government of Pakistan treasure the commitment of Chinese leadership and the people for bringing huge investment of $46 billion.
Siddiqui said Pakistan and China were time-tested friends and the friendship was further transformed into iron brotherhood and economic partnership by signing the CPEC framework.
“The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor was a project of shared destiny and framework offering equal opportunities to the people of China and Pakistan,” he said.
Meanwhile, briefing on the second session of meeting, Asim Khan, spokesman of ministry of planning said joint working groups on long term plan, industrial cooperation, Gwadar, transport infrastructure, energy and security were meeting to review the progress and finalise proposals in their respective areas.
“These proposals would be tabled in the Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC) on 21 November for final acceptance and formal approval to make those part of the CPEC framework,” Khan said.
The SOM was attended by the senior government officials, members of the Joint Working Groups (JWG) on Ling Term Plan, energy, infrastructure, Gwadar, industrial cooperation and security from China and Pakistan, secretary to the prime minister, federal secretaries of the line ministries, chairman Gwadar Development Authority, chairman Gawadar Port Authority and representatives of the provincial governments.