Lt Gen Asim Bajwa appointed Chairman of CPEC Authority

ISLAMABAD: The government on Tuesday issued notification for appointment of Lt Gen (R) Asim Saleem Bajwa as Chairman China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Authority into MP-1 scale for period of four years.

According to the notification issued by the Establishment Division, the competent authority is pleased to appoint Lt Gen (R) Asim Saleem Bajwa as Chairman CPEC Authority under the Ministry of Planning, Development and Reforms in MP-1 scale for a period of four years from the date of assuming the charge of the office with immediate effect and until further orders.

Top official sources said that the CPEC Authority came into being after issuance of ordinance to this effect by the incumbent regime. The Chinese side was pressing hard the Pakistan government to establish such Authority that could ensure smooth and timely implementation on the second phase of CPEC where the focus would be shifted on establishment of Special Economic Zones (SEZs), promoting social sector development and agriculture cooperation as well as building more power projects and moving towards finalising infrastructure project of Mainline (ML-1) for upgradation of rail line from Peshawar to Karachi with approximate cost of $9.2 billion. However, the fate of existing employees into CPEC Secretariat hangs in balance as there was element of uncertainty for their future contracts because they might be fired under newly placed CPEC Authority.

It will be a challenge for CPEC Authority to get financing for ML-1 project as the financing modalities were not yet finalised between the two sides. Both sides had agreed to use Chinese currency RMB for future projects including this much-awaited ML-1 project. Secondly, the CPEC Authority would have to ensure timely payment on electricity production given by energy projects financed through CPEC. It will be a challenge for the Authority to ensure preference to CPEC projects related to outstanding payment of power dues at a time when other IPPs were facing problem in the wake of monster of circular debt.

The CPEC Authority will also ensure sovereign guarantees for upcoming power generation projects as IMF had already agreed to increase the limit of sovereign guarantees under Extended Fund Facility (EFF) programme but it is yet to see how the IMF would allow Islamabad to utilise extended sovereign guarantees for execution of any CPEC projects.