Belt and Road Initiative presents many opportunities for Dutch companies

HAGUE (APP/Xinhua): The China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative presents many opportunities that make it attractive for Dutch companies to participate in, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte told Xinhua ahead of his visit to China. "Of course Dutch companies are very much interested in Belt and Road," said Rutte. The initiative "involves enormous investment in infrastructure. And this is where Dutch companies can assist China with their strong expertise in the fields like maritime logistics and port development, as well as rail and road construction and sustainability," he said. "Our focus is on sustainable projects in line with international standards," Rutte added. Proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013, the initiative aims to achieve policy, infrastructure, trade, financial and people-to-people connectivity along and beyond the ancient Silk Road trade routes, thus building a new platform for international cooperation to create new drivers of growth.

"This visit is an excellent opportunity for companies to make new contacts and show where the Netherlands excels," said Rutte. "And they recognize this opportunity too: it's no accident that a staggering 165 companies and knowledge institutions are taking part in this trade mission -- 236 people in total."

"Dutch companies are positive about doing business in China," he added.

According to the prime minister, over 1,000 Dutch companies operate in China, at around 1,500 sites.

 Finance Division provided over Rs18b so far

 ISLAMABAD (APP): The federal govt has so far released Rs 18,107.546 million for various ongoing and new projects of the Finance Division under the PSDP for the current fiscal year 2017-18. According to official sources, the govt had earmarked Rs 27,064.708m in the PSDP for the Finance Division projects, with foreign exchange component of Rs 715.402m. An amount of Rs6,998m has been released for Greater Karachi Water Supply Scheme, which is being developed by the Sindh and federal governments on cost sharing basis. The federal government has earmarked Rs 9,555 million for the project under the PSDP of the current fiscal year. Similarly, Rs1,500m has been released for Greater Karachi Sewerage Plant (S-III) Karachi, which is also being developed on cost sharing basis. The federal govt has earmarked Rs1,500m for the project in the PSDP 2017-18. The federal govt also released Rs 350m for Gwadar Development Authority and Rs 300.188m for two power plants from Syngas (IGCC 2009) in Tharparker, with each plant having capacity of producing 50 megawatt electricity.

The total cost of the project was estimated at Rs 8,898.7 million, out of which Rs 300.188 was earmarked in the fiscal year 2017-18, which has already been released.

An amount of Rs 300 million has been released for development works in Phoolnagar and adjacent areas while Rs 250 million has been provided for a flyover on Hala Road bypass and Patoki overhead bridge connecting rural areas with the Pattoki city.

The government also released Rs 137.335 million for a bridge over Balloki-Sulemanki Link at village Balloki to connect the surrounding areas with motorway in Nankana district while Rs 150 million has been released for the construction of dual carriageway in Phoolnagar, Kasur district.

Likewise, Rs 150 million has been released for Energization and Functionality of Construction and Extension of Audit House, Islamabad.

The government also released Rs 79.396 million for another important project related to automation of Central Directorate of National Savings (CDNS), Phase-II. The total cost of the project has been estimated at Rs 879.8 million, out of which Rs 202.106 was earmarked during the current fiscal year.

It is pertinent to mention here that in total the government has released over Rs 607.44 billion under its Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP)  2017-18 for various ongoing and new schemes against the total allocations of Rs1,001 billion.

The Planning Commission of Pakistan follows the stipulated mechanism for release of funds: first quarter (July-September) 20 per cent, second quarter (October-December) 20 per cent, third quarter (January-March) 30 per cent and fourth quarter (April-June) 30 per cent.

 Railways submits final draft for upgrading ML-1 under CPEC

ISLAMABAD (APP): Pakistan Railways has submitted the final draft of six sub-projects of Phase-I for the expansion and upgradation of Main Line (ML-1) under China-Pak Economic Corridor (CPEC). “On the basis of preliminary design, the PC-I of Phase-I of six sub-projects’ with the cost of 3400 million USD has been submitted to Ministry of Planning, Development and Reforms,” sources in the Ministry of Railways told APP. The sources said that there is no delay in the start of MI-I project under CPEC, in fact it is a huge, multi­disciplinary project, at an estimated cost of USD 8.2 billion which is likely to increase on finalization of preliminary design for the bidding process. As a matter of fact due diligence and prudence, in finalization of this huge project, is taking time which is considered essential for processing the project cycle, they added. “Up-gradation of ML-I of Pakistan Railways (Karachi to Peshawar and Taxila to Havelian) and establishment of dry port near Havelian is an `Early Harvest Project` under CPEC framework,” they said.

They said it is spread over 1876 kilometers and starting from Karachi passes through Hyderabad, Rhori, Multan, Lahore, Rawalpindi to Peshawar and Taxila to Havelian.

The sources said the project has been divided into two phases, Phase-I and Phase-II. To fulfill the requirement of Central Development Working Party (CDWP), preliminary design of the project was started in 2016.

“After approval of PC-I, engineering, procurement and construction contractor will be appointed through competitive bidding process among Chinese firms, as per inter­governmental framework agreement,” they said.

The sources said that in view of this position, it would not be possible to commit any time line for commencement of the work.

 ICCI for paying attention to all sectors equally for real development

ISLAMABAD (Online): Sheikh Amir Waheed, president of Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI), has said that the government should pay attention to all sectors uniformly for the real development and prosperity of the country. “Along with giving incentives to different sectors government should formulate a permanent and a superb policy for them” he stated this in an interview with “Online” on Saturday. Answering a question regarding the budget deficit, he stated that government could overcome the budget deficit by making major development in information technology sector. He stated: “We only make short-term planning instead of long-term planning but on the other side China is acting upon on the long-term planning.” He stated that the government will have to make proper planning regarding how to meet the needs of water in next five years. He said that government should reduce the taxes. Answering a question, he stated that equal policy should be developed for taxes of all the sectors.

“We import cooking oil worth three billion dollars and therefore government should work achieving self sufficiency in this oil,” he added.