Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Ministerial Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC) on China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) will meet today (Tuesday) to approve an aggregate amount of $27 billion for 22 mega projects, including special economic zones and Gwadar International Airport.

A senior official privy to marathon sessions of secretary-level meetings and convening of five joint working groups at the Planning Commission and Board of Investment, among others, told Daily Times that rounds of talks on Monday fine-tuned the projects approved by Pakistani side during the last week cabinet committee on CPEC with Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi in the chair. Gwadar Expressway is also among the couple of dozen CPEC-related projects to be approved on Tuesday, the official added, requesting not be named. Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal and his Chinese counterpart would co-chair the seventh round of the JCC.

Earlier, spokesman of the Planning Ministry stated that joint working groups on Long Term Plan, Industrial Cooperation (special economic zones), Gwadar, Transport Infrastructure, Energy and Security met to review the progress and finalise proposals in their respective areas. These proposals would be tabled in the Joint Cooperation Committee on November 21 for final acceptance and formal approval to make those part of the CPEC framework, he added.

As a kick-start before the actual commencement of the JCC, meeting of the senior officials was jointly chaired by Planning Secretary Shoaib Siddiqui and his Chinese counterpart. Members to the five JWGs from both sides in addition to Secretary to Prime Minister Fawad Hassan Fawad, relevant federal secretaries, Gwadar Development Authority chairman and representatives of the provincial governments attended the JCC meet on Monday.

The planning secretary reiterated that Pakistan envisages great value to the commitment of Chinese leadership and the people for bringing huge investment of $46 billion, which encouraged global investors to take Pakistan as their investment destination. The economic corridor was entering into the next phase of industrial cooperation, which would make Pakistan a manufacturing hub and epicentre for connectivity in the region, he said.

Published in Daily Times, November 21^st 2017.