ISLAMABAD - Federal Minister for Planning, Development and reform Ahsan Iqbal said on Thursday that the government will convene an all parties’ conference (APC) to remove reservations of some political parties regarding the multi-billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project.
“We have asked the prime minister to convene an APC and brief the political parties about the CPEC project,” Iqbal said while addressing a joint press conference with Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister Pervaiz Khattak after chairing a post-6th Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC) meeting here.
The meeting was also attended by Azad Jammu and Kashmir Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haidar Khan, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister Pervaiz Khattak, Gilgit-Baltistan Chief Minister Hafiz Hafeez-ur-Rehman and provincial ministers from Sindh and Punjab, senior officials from federal and provincial governments and others.
On his return from Davos, the prime minister will convene the APC to remove the reservations of some political parties especially from the KP, the minister said.
The K-P chief while replying a query said that “our reservations have been removed but some of the parties in the province have reservations over the CPEC and I have demanded that the prime minister should convene an APC to remove them”.
Khattak said that his government would organise road shows in China in March to highlight the economic opportunities in the province.
The planning minister said that India has been suffering from CPEC phobia and advised it to join the fate-changer project to avoid isolation in the committee of nations. Replying a query regarding the Indian objection to CPEC, Iqbal said that the Chinese ministry of foreign affairs had already rejected the Indian objection on CPEC. “India is suffering from CPEC phobia which would surely lead to its isolation in this region. How India would keep himself isolated of a project where everybody wished to join” the minister said. European nations, the UK and countries around the world have shown their inclination for joining the CPEC and India will face isolation if its refrains from joining the corridor project, Iqbal said. He said that the CPEC would bring about the positive impact on whole South Asia.
Iqbal, while highlighting decisions taken at the meeting, said that leadership has agreed to complete homework on new projects included in CPEC during 6th JCC to ensure its speedy and timely implementation. He said that Pakistani sides of the Joint Working Groups (JWGs) will meet soon to finalise new projects in energy, infrastructure and other sectors. He appreciated the role of provinces particularly of the KP on accelerating work on CPEC projects.
Iqbal said that participants agreed that along with projects in infrastructure and energy sector, procedure on industrialisation would be firmed up to ensure maximum benefits of the CPEC. He urged private entrepreneurs to come forward and fully seize the opportunity to make Pakistan a prosperous country.
“The CPEC would not only prove a game-changer for Pakistan but it would also ensure connectivity of the whole region. It would turn Pakistan into a trade hub if all the targets were achieved”, said minister.
He said that some elements were spreading misconceptions and hatching conspiracies against the harmony prevailing about CPEC in Pakistan. “The leadership has thwarted such plans by expressing their full support. All the reservations of federating units were addressed and everyone is now jointly working for the success of this project” he said.
The minister said that certain circles were engaged in negative propaganda against Pak-China industrial cooperation but these conspirators will have to see failure for sure. He said that the Chinese leadership wishes to speed up the process of industrialisation in Pakistan, thus ready to shift industries here due to expensive labour in China.
“It is illogical to say that a large number of expensive Chinese workers would come to Pakistan and would occupy the job market here,” said the minister, hoping that jobs for Pakistani labourers would be multiplied with the completion of industrial cooperation under CPEC. Replying a query he said that Pakistani labour and engineers will get more than half of the jobs under the CPEC.
He said that with the initiation of projects in different sectors, construction material industry has witnessed a boom and now thousands of Pakistani engineers and workers have got jobs in CPEC projects.
Iqbal claimed that the CPEC was the most transparent projects in Pakistan and “questions on its transparency are a baseless practice”. “All the projects in the energy sector or operating in independent power producing mode (IPP) where the tariff is determined by NEPRA, an independent body, so there is no room for questions,” he said.
“Infrastructure projects have been initiated with concessional financing, thus it is awarded through a clear and set procedure,” Iqbal said adding that Chinese administration gives names of three companies for each project where the lowest bidder is decided by Pakistan.
The federal minister also said that provinces have also been asked to finalise the feasibility of their proposed SEZs by March, which would be shared with Chinese authorities. He said that it was expected that work on these SEZs would be operational by 2017-18 and generate economic activities in the country.
Earlier in the meeting, all the provincial leaders reiterated their full support to the CPEC and assured to take immediate steps for implementation of new projects.