Federal Minister for Planning and Development Prof. Ahsan Iqbal Tuesday said that implementation phase of China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) had started in 2015 and the attention of global media shifted from branding Pakistan as the safe haven of terrorists to safe haven for billions of dollars of investment after the visit of Chinese President, Xi Jinping to Pakistan last month.
He stated this while addressing a National harmony workshop organised by National Defence University.
Describing shared prosperity as the ultimate spirit of CPEC at national and regional level, he said, “Parochial prejudices of the past have pushed the people of Pakistan to perdition.”
Prof. Iqbal said that the decade of development in 60s could not bring the desired results due to absence of inclusive and sustainable development plan.
“We should convert this consciousness into congenial coherence and castigate the crass comments of Indian media on CPEC”, he remarked.
“Social solidarity and political stability have enabled China to make progress in economic development. We have to learn from Chinese learning and development experience and stop politicising mega development projects through hatred breeding political statements. It’s high time we throw overboard our parochial, sectarian and racial differences to see a prosperous future of Pakistan for our youth grow,” he said.
The Joint Working Group on CPEC would be constituted within two months to start the consultation process with provinces on industrial parks and economic zones, he added.
“The correct and official maps on CPEC, delineating three alignments and all the provincial capitals as the nodes of corridor project have been made public on website”, he added.
Dispelling fears and confusions on CPEC he said, “Load and source are the criteria for putting up energy projects to avoid transmission losses. Sindh and Baluchistan would be the biggest beneficiaries of power generation under CPEC with 36 per cent and 26 per cent respectively out of total 13880 MW.”
The minister urged the media to portray the correct picture of the CPEC route and initiate a debate on its effects on the inclusive development of Pakistan rather than spearheading sketchy information given out by some individuals.
“It has been reiterated that all the regions and provinces of CPEC will be beneficiaries of umbrella project and all political parties will be taken on board in the course of implementation of projects,” he added.