A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed on Friday between the Punjab government and Chinese international company Norinco regarding the Lahore Mass Transit Project.
Under the agreement, a 27 kilometres railway track will be laid from Gaju Matta on Ferozepur Road to Shahdara of which 7 kilometres portion will be underground. Lahore Transport Company Chairman Khawaja Ahmad Hassaan and Norinco Vice-President Zhang Shiping signed the document on behalf of the Punjab government and the company respectively. Talking to journalists, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif welcomed the agreement and said that soft opening of the project will be done on August 14. He said that it is a unique project, as the Chinese company by announcing that it will not take even a single penny as profit proved that China is a true and sincere friend of Pakistan.
The CM said that the project will be an invaluable gift by the Chinese government for the people of Lahore, Punjab and the whole country.
Shahbaz said that there are deep-rooted relations between China and Pakistan and Pak-China friendship is higher than the Himalayas, deeper than oceans and sweeter than honey. The CM said that the friendship between the two countries is also reflected in the agreement. Shahbaz said that Norinco is a renowned Chinese company, which has executed numerous projects of human development and prosperity and also set up metro systems. He said that thousands of people are benefiting from the mass transit projects executed by the company in Beijing, Shanghai and Tehran. He said that completion of the Lahore Mass Transit Project will not only provide modern transport facilities to people of the provincial metropolis but of the whole country and the project will be completed by working round-the-clock.
Zhang Shiping said that Pakistan and China are bound together in unswerving ties of friendship and the Lahore Mass Transit Project will usher in a new era of bilateral cooperation between the two countries. He said that the project will reflect Pak-China friendship and NORINCO will not take any profit from the project. Shiping said that Chinese bank Exim will provide loan for the project.
