Minister for Planning, Development and Reforms Ahsan Iqbal on Thursday said that the conspiracies being hatched against China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) would be failed on each and every forum.
Talking to media after chairing a meeting of joint committee on CPEC, he reiterated the government’s resolve for working on the project with full dedication and complete unity to make the country Asian Tiger.
Azad Jammu and Kashmir Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider Khan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Perviaz Khattak and Gilgit Baltistan Chief Minister Hafiz Hafeez-ur-Rahman attended the meeting. Ahsan Iqbal said the CPEC would play an important role in industrial developmental of the country, adding cement, steel, construction and machinery industry would flourish.
He said the initiation of the CPEC has increased employment opportunities in the country and thousands of skilled and semi-skilled labourers and engineers were employed in the project. He said the increasing trends in employments opportunities and growth in national economy was a positive sign for the country and these indicators would help in further development of the economy.
The minister said the CPEC was not only a game changer but it was also fate changer and would change the fate of billions of people living in this region. The boards of investment of all provinces were advised to finalise places for the establishment of special economic zones (SEZs) in their respective provinces for establishment of industrial units in these SEZs.
Ahsan Iqbal said the provinces were also asked for finalising the feasibility of their proposed SEZs by March, which would be shared with Chinese authorities. The minister said that it was expected that work on these SEZs would be operational by 2017-18 and generate economic activities in the country.
The minister informed that Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs had rejected the Indian objection on CPEC, adding that India was fallen into CPEC-phobia. Ahsan Iqbal said the CPEC would bring about positive impact on whole South Asia, adding that Indian think tanks had also pressurised its government to take benefit from the project.
Speaking on the occasion, KP Chief Minister Pervaiz Khattak said his government would organise road shows in China in March this year to highlight the economic opportunities of the province. He said that he had learnt much from the Chinese experience during his recent visit for attending 6th Joint Cooperation Committee meeting held in Beijing.