Daily Times

The World Bank okayed a loan of $406.6 million to Pakistan for the development of the Khyber Pass Economic Corridor (KPEC) Project that will benefit traders in Pakistan, Afghanistan and the Central Asian republics. In this connection, a ceremony was held in Economic Affairs Division in which on behalf of Pakistan Economic Affairs Division Sectary Dr Syed Pervaiz Abbas and the World Bank Country Director for Pakistan Patchamuthu Illangovan signed the agreement. According to the Economic Affairs Division, the project will construct 48 km long 4-Lane, dual carriageway high-speed access controlled motorway, from Peshawar to Torkham. The expressway will reduce transit time and costs for regional and international trade transiting the Khyber Pass and extend till Karachi-Lahore-Islamabad-Peshawar Trans-Pakistan Expressway System, said the statement, adding it will form as an integral part of the planned Peshawar-Kabul-Dushanbe Motorway. Ziaul Haq Sarhadi, ex- senior-vice President Pak-Afghan chamber of commerce and industry and President Frontier agents association declared the KPEC as omen for the economy of the country especially for the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP). He said that for the last one and half decade, traders of KP and the merged districts suffered a lot that needed to be facilitated.