Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Reform, Ahsan Iqbal, said on Monday that the groundbreaking of Gwadar International Airport and Expressway would be performed this year.

He remarked this while talking to a delegation of Gwadar Press Club which called on him here, further adding, “Three routes to link Gwadar with rest of the country would be made available by December 2016.” The government has also planned to complete Gwadar International Airport at a cost of $260 million with a capacity of handling the largest of passenger planes including the A-380 Boeing jets. The minister said, “Gwadar and Balochistan province would be biggest beneficiaries of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), ” further adding that the first Economic Zone would also be established at Gwadar.

He also said that because of the various financial incentives that the administration had offered to potential investors in the Special Economic Zone of Gwadar, significant interest had grown among investors, both in Pakistan and abroad.

Iqbal also added, “Vocational and Technical Training Institute would be built to impart local population of Gwadar training of skills and provide employment.” He also informed the delegation of the Gwadar university, which would be established this year to ensure higher education facilities to the local youth. “Gwadar city would not only be provided with a modern seaport but it would be made a centre of social and economic activities,” he added.

The Minister was of the view that CPEC was not merely a road but a complete framework. He further asserted that this important initiative was a result of the vision of both Pakistani and Chinese leadership. “Out of $46 billion, $35 billion would be invested in energy projects under the CPEC framework,” he said, further adding that Sindh and Balochistan province would get the largest shares from the investment in energy sector. CPEC, he said, would benefit more than three billion people of this region and beyond.

Regarding the Orange Line Project, he clarified that this project was being completed by the Punjab government from its own budget. Iqbal said that while 20th Century had featured a war of political ideology, economic wars were now being fought in the 21st century. He pointed out that even though Pakistan had missed several economic opportunities in the past, the entire world was eyeing the success prospects of the CPEC.