China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) | Updates & Discussions

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Early implementation, completion of CPEC projects govt’s top priority: PM

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ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi Friday said that the early implementation and completion of projects under China-Pakistan Economic Corridor remains the foremost priority of the government in view of their huge socio-economic benefits for the country.

Chairing a meeting of Cabinet Committee on CPEC at Prime Minister’s Office, he directed that Board of Investment and other relevant federal government departments should actively engage with the provincial governments for ensuring timely completion of various CPEC-related projects.

The meeting reviewed progress on various projects being undertaken under the umbrella of CPEC project in the field of energy, roads and railway infrastructure, including the M-1 project, Karachi Circular Railway and establishment of Special Economic Zones (SEZs) in various parts of the country.

The meeting also reviewed preparation for the visit of the senior-level official delegation to China pursuant to the 7thJoint Cooperation Committee meeting held in Islamabad on November 21, 2017.

Power Division secretary briefed the meeting about various power sector projects, including 300MW Gwadar Power Project to be set up for catering to the power needs of Gwadar and the adjacent areas. The meeting was also briefed about the progress on the establishment of transmission lines being set up to off-take power from various generation sources.

NHA chairman briefed the meeting about progress on various road infrastructure projects, including construction of Raikot-Thakot road, Khuzdar-Basima road, upgradation of DI Khan-Zhob road and other projects.

PM Abbasi directed that besides expediting work on ongoing projects, modalities for mutually-agreed future projects be finalised in consultation with the Chinese side to ensure their timely implementation.

Discussing SEZs to be set up in various parts of the country under the CPEC project, the prime minister directed that Chinese side be proactively engaged in the speedy establishment of prioritized zones.

He directed that various factors, including connectivity, availability of human resource and requisite raw material, should also be taken into account while prioritising setting up of these zones.

CPEC: NHA appoints 196 employees in Baluchistan office

Parliament Times 13 hours agoBalochistan, National News 0 Comments 33 Views



Islamabad: National Highways Authority (NHA) has appointed 196 employees in Baluchistan office in the name of China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
After Quetta, NHA has established zonal offices in Khuzdar and Gawadar where large numbers of appointments have been made offering heavy salaries.
Only one General Manager (GM) was there in Baluchistan in the past while there are three GMs serving recently.
Baluchistan has been divided into three regions where GMs have been appointed in zonal offices.
It is pertinent to mention that NHA could just complete Southern route of CPEC within three years span of time while an army of officers has been appointed for smooth functioning of operations.

 

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Committee reviews CPEC progress
APPUpdated January 13, 2018
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ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said on Friday the early completion of projects under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) remains the foremost priority of the government.

Chairing a meeting of the cabinet committee on the CPEC, he directed the Board of Investment and other relevant federal government departments to actively engage with provincial governments to ensure timely completion of various corridor-related projects.

The committee reviewed progress on various initiatives being carried out under the CPEC in the fields of energy and infrastructure, including the M-1 project and Karachi Circular Railway, besides the establishment of Special Economic Zones (SEZs).

The committee also reviewed preparations for the visit of a senior-level delegation to China pursuant to the 7th Joint Cooperation Committee meeting held in Islamabad on Nov 21, 2017. The secretary of the Power Division briefed the committee about various power-sector initiatives, including 300-megawatt Gwadar power project that will be set up to fulfil electricity needs of the port city and its adjacent areas.

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The committee was also briefed about progress on the establishment of transmission lines to carry power from various generation sources.

The chairman of the National Highway Authority briefed the committee about progress on various infrastructure projects, including the construction of Raikot-Thakot Road and Khuzdar-Basima Road.

Published in Dawn, January 13th, 2018

 

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Industry group calls for release of detailed CPEC long-term plan

Khaleeq KianiJanuary 18, 2018
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ISLAMABAD: Identifying short-term external liabilities as a significant challenge, Pakistan Business Council (PBC) on Wednesday called for a measured watch on increasing Chinese footprint in Pakistan’s economy and a calculated response with fiscal, monetary and exchange rate adjustments to manage the balance of payments.

At the Pakistan Economic Forum also attended by Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, the influential group representing 66 of the largest industrial groups of the country said the massive China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) offered opportunities for the economy to benefit from improved infrastructure and high job creation but wanted a cautious approach to monitor future openings.

“Chinese investment must be seen to serve as an enhancer to domestic businesses, not as an ‘extractor’ from them,” the PBC said in its final report made public at the event.

The council strongly demanded the release of the detailed CPEC long-term plan to the business community, followed by the creation of a formal body to hold discussions among Planning Commission, representatives of the country’s business and financial sectors and relevant regulatory authorities — State Bank of Pakistan and Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan.

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There were a lot of queries, concerns and different misapprehensions surrounding the CPEC at present on the part of both domestic and multilateral agents, which must be addressed, the report said. “Already damaged by the free trade agreement (FTA) with China, many businesses in Pakistan are concerned that Chinese companies will use the CPEC ‘umbrella’ to further increase their share of the domestic market, through the proposed special economic zones (SEZs), or through the incorporation of Xinjiang within CPEC,” the report said.

FTA with China ‘damaged’ industry, investments under SEZs could compound the problem: Pakistan Business Council

Speaking of the Chinese enterprises coming to Pakistan, the report said that “so far, their work here has involved less use of Pakistani manpower and resources than expected,” noting that except for power projects, no large Pakistani business houses were known to have partnered with Chinese companies in manufacturing or other enterprise, and Chinese companies were, anecdotally, active in seeking investments within Pakistan largely on, and of, their own.

The council also suggested that responsibility for approval and monitoring of all CPEC projects be consolidated under the aegis of an empowered and fully staffed authority as its sole responsibility.

CPEC operates through different levels, and departments, of the government, and separately, the private sector. If each counterparty is left to negotiate terms, oversee implementation, and respond to problems, Pakistan can end up with different responses to similar issues, and also different procedures, rates and prices, compromising our control and influence on the whole process as it rolls forward.

Centralisation will allow the development of common criteria, build project supervision experience and expertise at a single point, and allow smoother and faster project implementation, the PBC advised.

PBC Chairman Muhammad Ali Tabba said while short-term measures required to manage the immediate challenges, macroeconomic stability could only be sustained through fundamental reforms that required political will. With general election is approaching, he said, some of the decisions will have to be fast-tracked.

Syed Shabbar Zaidi, Partner AF Ferguson and Company, criticised growing reliance of the fiscal policy on collecting revenues from imports through duties, presumptive and sales tax on a full and final basis and manufacturing sector being 13.5 per cent of GDP subjected to 58 per cent of tax load.

“The tax regime discourages corporatisation and therefore incentives should be provided to corporatise the business instead of family owned small firms to move the economy up the value chain,” he added.

Published in Dawn, January 18th, 2018

 

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Why India truely hates despises CPEC and wishes to destroy it through a terror and misinformation campaign!

 

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Mega oil city to be constructed in Gwadar under CPEC

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ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has decided to construct a mega oil city at Gwadar on 80,000 acres under much hyped China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

This mega oil city will be used for transportation of imported oil through the Gwadar Port to China. The oil will be imported from Gulf and will be stored at this proposed mega Gwadar oil city.

The distance to China will be reduced, and it will take just seven days to cover the distance from Gwadar to Chinese border as import through western China took almost 40 days by covering double distance.

“We have forwarded PC-1 to the Ministry of Petroleum for acquiring 80,000 acres for this mega oil city at Gwadar with estimated cost of Rs10 billion. There will be additional cost for construction of its storage and other aligned facilities with the help of investments,” Director General, Gwadar Development Authority (GDA), Dr Sajjad H Baloch, told Islamabad based journalists who visited the Gwadar Port last week. This visit was arranged by the Planning Commission in order to show case different ongoing projects under CPEC.

A refinery, petrochemical industries and storage will be established in the oil city, he added.

The Gwadar oil city, he said, would be used for storing oil for its onward transportation to China. Usually, it takes 40 days for vessels to transport oil to China but via Pakistan it will reach China within 7 days, he added. He said that the total area of Gwadar Model City is 290,000 acres which includes 160,000 acres of residential area while the remaining is for industrial purposes. A Chinese company is working on the Model City Plan and it will be ready by August 14, 2018.

To another query regarding different measures for overcoming water shortages at Gwadar, he said that the current water requirement stood at six million gallons per day and there is no direct water supply taking place to the area. Two MGD water is being supplied from two water small dams through tankers and nearest distance is almost 70 kilometres.

“We have a deficit of four million gallons per day in water supply to the area,” he said and added that by 2020, the water requirement of Gwadar would be 12 million gallons per day, for which additional arrangements were made to get 10 million gallons of water.

New Gwadar International Airport: Earlier, the journalists visited the site of proposed new airport at Gwadar. The China Airport Construction Group Engineering Company representative Jianxin Liao told the visiting journalists that they were conducting soil investigation on the basis of which, the design of new airport at Gwadar will be finalised. He said that the procured land for this new airport stood at 4,300 acres, and this airport will possess capacity to handle one million passengers on annual basis. He said that by April this year the design will be completed after which the cost of the project will be estimated. It will be the biggest airport of Pakistan.

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) representative Zohaib Soomro said that the initial cost of the project was estimated at $228 million, but its cost would be finalised after completion of design, and it would be estimated again.

The sources said that it would be premature to give any assessment related to cost, but it would be more than $2 billion to $2.7 billion at least if we want to construct state of the art airport in accordance with international standards.

https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/271367-mega-oil-city-to-be-constructed-in-gwadar-under-cpec

 

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CPEC to expand scope of cooperation between two countries: Governor GB

Parvez Jabri
12 hours ago

GILGIT: Governor Gilgit Baltistan Mir Ghazanfar Ali Friday said the Pakistan China Economic Corridor (CPEC) project would expand the scope of cooperation between the two countries in various new areas, including cooperation in social sectors along with economic fields.

He expressed these views during a meeting with Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Yao Jing, who called on him.

He said the CPEC would turn the China-Pakistan bilateral relations into long term strategic economic partnership, further strengthening the bilateral relations between the two countries.

The Chinese ambassador said development schemes under the CPEC project would also usher in socio-economic prosperity of the Gilgit-Baltistan region.

He said the Chinese government would undertake various mega projects for uplift of agriculture, energy and tourism sectors in Gilgit Baltistan and result in socio-economic development of the region, adding his government would also make initiatives for development of its social sector.

He said in collaboration with Gilgit Baltistan Council small projects featuring facilities like clean drinking water, education and health would be launched at all GB’s districts to uplift living standards of people and provide them job opportunities.

He also said cultural cooperation would be further intensified between the two countries by enhancing people-to-people contact and culture exchange programmes between Kashghar and Gilgit Baltistan.

The GB governor also sought assistance of the Chinese government for completion of Attabad Power project to enhance power generation and overcome loadshedding in the area.

He underlined the need for making more measures to provide equal opportunities to the traders of Gilgit Baltistan and provide them concessions in immigration, enabling them to export vegetables, fruit and other goods to markets in China, conveniently.

The Chinese ambassador assured his cooperation in this regard, adding he was looking forward to the development of the area.

The GB government said best facilities would be provided to the tourists from China, adding the region was a safe and beautiful destination to enjoy its natural beauty.

He also extended invitation to the Chinese ambassador to visit Gilgit Baltistan and the later accepted it.



Copyright APP (Associated Press of Pakistan), 2018

 

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CPEC discovering country’s hidden wealth

CPEC PROJECTS, NEWS, PAKISTAN-CHINA
JANUARY 27, 2018 | LEAVE A COMMENT

Islamabad – Multi-billion dollar China Pakistan Economic Corridor(CPEC) has started unearthing hidden treasures of the country, stated Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal while speaking in the Senate on Friday.

He said that five billion dollars of investment has been mobilized for exploitation of Thar coal which values more than the cumulative energy reservoirs of Saudi Arabia and Iran but could not be exploited over the last seventy years.

The Minister said that several road infrastructure projects are being executed under the CPEC whilst full ownership has been given to the provinces for the establishment of special economic zones. He said that road shows will also be conducted in China to attract investment in the zones. This phase of zones will be completed from 2020 to 2025. The Minister clarified that the Chinese investors are not being given any special incentives. He said a level playing field will be provided to all the investors including the locals.

Responding to the points of members, Ahsan Iqbal clarified that the loans taken from China for infrastructure development under China Pakistan Economic Corridor project are concessional in nature. He dismissed any irregularity or misappropriation in the CPEC related projects. He said the CPEC projects have been given some exemptions given their nature and dependence on loans.

Meanwhile Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif told the house in a written reply that Indian Border Security Forces committed 170 ceasefire violations along the Line of Control (LoC) and Working Boundary (WB) in the first 24 days of 2018. At least 11 civilians lost their lives, whereas 48 others were injured in the recent spurt of LoC violations, Asif said in a written reply submitted to the Upper House on the matter.

In his reply, Asif claimed that there had been a surge in Indian ceasefire violations since international pressure began mounting against

New Delhi for its violation of human rights in India-held Kashmir.

Asif also pointed out that anti-Pakistan statements issued by various Indian leaders would not help efforts to create peace in the region, adding that Delhi’s involvement in terrorism in Pakistan is also a reality.

The reply said that Pakistan believes lasting peace between the two countries can be achieved through dialogue, and that the most important issue that must be discussed by Islamabad and New Delhi is that of Kashmir. “Pakistan wants friendly relations with its neighbours but its advances are met with hostility from India,” the foreign minister said in his report. “It is unfortunate that India responds to Pakistan’s friendly moves with hostility.”

Asif recalled Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj’s participation in the 2015 Heart of Asia conference in Islamabad, saying that despite both parties’ agreement to revive the Comprehensive Bilateral Dialogue, no such plans had materialised.

“Pakistan wants to improve its relationship with Afghanistan as peace there is in our own better interests,” the reply said.

"Monitoring Desk"

 

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Free zone of Gwadar port inaugurated to boost regional development
Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-29 16:57:41|Editor: Lifang


ISLAMABAD, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) -- The first phase of Gwadar Port's Free Zone in southwestern Pakistan was inaugurated on Monday by Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, who commented that the free zone will help facilitate regional and global trade under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

Addressing at the ceremony held in Gwadar, Abbasi said that every harbor needs a free zone to boost its development and Gwadar's free zone will link Pakistan with central Asia, adding that Gwadar's potential was rediscovered through the construction of the free zone.

The prime minister further pointed out that the significant bilateral project of CPEC is the most important initiative nowadays in Pakistan and gave the country sustainable energy projects to overcome its energy crisis, adding that CPEC is also an opportunity for the region.

Speaking on the same occasion, Zhang Baozhong, chairman of China Overseas Ports Holding Company Pakistan (COPHC), said with the construction of the free zone, the port city of Gwadar will become a big commercial hub in the region, adding that the development of Gwadar would help to improve Pakistan's overall economy and people's lives.

According to the COPHC, the operator of Gwadar port, some 30 companies in different businesses such as hotel, bank, logistics and fish processing have entered the free zone with direct investment of about 474.3 million U.S. dollars and are expected to output annual value of 790.5 million U.S. dollars after full operation.

Meanwhile, the first Gwadar International Expo was kicked off in the free zone and has attracted businessmen from Iran, China, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia and Oman, said the operator.

During the expo, the COPHC and the Balochistan local government are expected to sign a contract to provide water to local residents and other agreements between cities from China and Pakistan are anticipated on the further development of Gwadar.

 

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More than 30,000 jobs created under CPEC

ISLAMABAD: The early harvest projects under China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) have crated more than 30,000 direct jobs for Pakistanis while the mid term and long term projects under CPEC are poised to create hundreds of thousand employment opportunties in the country.

According to official documents, the figure of employment opportunities under CPEC would further go up as CPEC would generate around 800,000 jobs over the period of next 15 years.Presently, the mega energy projects under CPEC portfolio contributed majority of jobs where 16,000 Pakistanis are hired as laborer and engineers.

Port Qasim Coal Power project is the top one which created job opportunities for 5,000 Pakistanis. Sahiwal Coal Power Plant Project and Zonergy Solar Power Project stand second in list with 3,000 jobs each. “Around 300 to 500 engineers are working on these energy projects which will surely help in transfer of knowledge in these sector.

https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/278553-more-than-30-000-jobs-created-under-cpec

 

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