A follow-up meeting between Planning Minister Prof. Ahsan Iqbal and Li Chunlin, Vice Chairman of China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) took place yesterday to discuss important CPEC projects and minutes of the 11th JCC meeting.
This time, the meeting took place at the CPEC Secretariat, Ministry of Planning Development and Special Initiatives Islamabad.
Pakistan urged China to speed up the implementation of the first phase of the Mainline-1 (ML-1), which includes a 1,872km railway track and associated facilities from Karachi to Peshawar. Pakistan requested that China accelerate the Karachi Circular Railway (KCR) project, both of which were agreed upon by the leadership of both nations in November.
According to the official statement, Pakistan requested strong support from NDRC and other relevant Chinese government institutions to expedite the implementation of important projects like Mainline-1 (ML-1), Karachi Circular Railway (KRC), and key energy projects in line with the leadership consensus.
Both sides expressed satisfaction with the smooth implementation of various CPEC projects and agreed that all the pending issues will be resolved amicably in the spirit of traditional cooperation, mutual understanding, complete trust, and brotherhood.
Progress was also made in the four priority SEZs namely Rashakai, Allama Iqbal Industrial City, Dhabeji, and Bostan. SEZs agreed to further expedite the progress so as to attract the relocation of high-quality industries.
The signing of the Framework Agreement for Industrial Cooperation was highly appreciated and both sides committed to holding bi-annual meetings to review the implementation of the framework.
2023 marks a decade of CPEC and a strong partnership between Pakistan and China. Both Pakistan and China are celebrating 10 Years of BRI and CPEC on 5th July 2023 whereby high-level Chinese delegations are scheduled to visit Pakistan to witness the achievements made since the inception of CPEC.
In order to make the 10 years celebrations memorable, both sides agreed to sign the 11th JCC minutes of the meeting before the end of April 2023 so that relevant Technical Joint Working Groups (JWGs) could then hold their meetings by mid of May 2023 and workout the tangible outcomes for the 12th JCC Meetin, which is planned to be held in the first week of July 2023 at Islamabad.
What exactly has TEN years of CPEC achieved for Pakistan? Brink of default? Economic basket case?