Pakistani development to have Chinese touch, says Shahbaz

Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif met senior authorities of National Development and Reforms Commission (NDRC) in Beijing on Thursday.

Matters regarding the promotion of Pak-China relations and cooperation in energy and other sectors were discussed in detail during the meeting. Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Minister said that he and his delegation are returning from China with new hopes and expectations. He said that historic decisions have been taken in the meeting of Joint Cooperation Committee of Pak-China Economic Corridor and reflect the friendship between the two countries. He said that the new agreements made during the visit would save Punjab billions of rupees while because of promotion of economic activities hundreds of thousands of job opportunities will be created.

Shahbaz Sharif said that Chinese government and concerned departments expressed extraordinary interest in promotion of cooperation in energy and other sectors. He said that the sincere efforts being made during the tenure of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for acquiring energy are unprecedented in the history of Pakistan. He said that despite hurdles, a number of power generations projects will start production by the end of 2017 and the supply of electricity would increase substantially.

The Chief Minister further said that a request has been made to Chinese government to supply electricity to Pakistan through transmission line from Western China and if this project was given a practical shape, there will be a revolution in industrial and trade sectors. He said that Pakistan will need more than 10000-megawatt electricity during next three years and planning is already being made in this regard. He said that the basic purpose of visit to China was to make rapid progress towards new projects in energy and other sectors along with ongoing projects and a remarkable success has been achieved.

Shahbaz Sharif further said that there was extraordinary enthusiasm among Chinese authorities and officials with regard to the visit of Chinese President to Pakistan while people of Pakistan are also waiting for the visit of the President of their friendly country. The Chief Minister further said that the process of cooperation between China and Pakistan is continuing expeditiously and the visit of Chinese President to Islamabad will further expand Pak-China relations. He said that Chinese President would also lay foundation stone of a number of projects in Pakistan.

Federal Minister for Planning & Development Ahsan Iqbal while addressing the meeting of National Development and Reforms Commission said that the visit to China would yield far-reaching results. He said that the government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has adopted a comprehensive strategy for the speedy implementation of Pak-China agreements. He said that China should also help in laying gas pipeline. Ahsan Iqbal further said that a number of important decisions have been taken in the meeting of Pak-China Economic Corridor Joint Cooperation Committee meeting while it was also agreed to accelerate the work on ongoing projects in different sectors.