Islamabad, Aug 20: Professor Ahsan Iqbal, the Minister for Planning, Development, and Special Initiatives, gave all Working Groups (WGs) until Tuesday to prepare concept papers on the five new corridors growth, livelihood, innovation, green energy, and regional connectivity for CPEC Phase-II that Chinese President Xi Jinping had suggested in August.
As the chair of a review meeting for CPEC projects, he declared, “The concept papers for all CPEC Phase-II projects should be completed as soon as possible, aligning with these five new corridors.” Senior officials, secretaries of related ministries, and Secretary Planning Awais Manzur Sumra were among those present at the meeting.
Speaking at the meeting, Ahsan Iqbal reported that Pakistan and China had decided to start working on these five corridors, which matched Pakistan’s 5Es framework (Export, Energy, Equity, Environment and E-Pakistan) for the country’s economic growth.
Speaking about the five new initiatives, he explained that creating jobs and offering the best amenities to the public were two of the goals of the Livelihood Corridor.The minister stated that under the Innovation Corridor, new projects would be started using contemporary technology and teaching young people information technology skills. According to him, the Open Regional Cooperation would leverage the CPEC to boost connectivity and forge closer ties with Central Asian states.
He was confident that by the end of this month, comprehensive paperwork on these five routes will be prepared and presented with the Chinese leadership at the appropriate time. In addition, the minister of planning gave the relevant ministries instructions to draft five-year plans for the CPEC portfolio to be submitted to the Joint Cooperation Committee. The minister also emphasized the importance of holding frequent joint working group meetings in September in order to develop the next five-year CPEC strategy.
“Our goal should be to increase foreign investment and advance industrial and commercial development,” he stated, adding that long-term initiatives should be incorporated into the working group that is divided into sectors.Ahsan Iqbal set a deadline of 15 days for all the involved ministries to turn in their projects linked to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
