Scope of CPEC to be enhanced in second phase: Gen Asim Bajwa
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The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is making steady progress and its scope will be further enhanced in the second phase, said the chairman of the CPEC Authority while rejecting reports about the slowing down of the Corridor projects.
In a tweet on Wednesday, Chairman Lt-Gen (retd) Asim Salim Bajwa said the industrial development, agriculture, food security, science and technology, and tourism will be the major sectors in the second phase of the multi-billion-dollar project.
Rumours about CPEC slowing down totally baseless.Misdirected Propaganda Articles keep appearing.Reality;#CPEC making steady progress&is at the cusp of launching phase2 with enhanced scope,involving Chinese&Pak pvt secs.Industry,agri/food security,Sc&Tech&tourism addl focus areas
— Asim Saleem Bajwa (@AsimSBajwa) April 8, 2020
Many projects focusing on infrastructure and energy sectors in the first phase of CPEC have been completed and are already operational, and work on the second phase is underway.
Rejecting the baseless propaganda articles, Asim Bajwa said that the CPEC project was making steady progress as they were in a position to launch the phase-II. He said that the second phase would involve private investors from Pakistan and China.
Federal Planning Minister Asad Umar on February 26 said that the nature of the projects in CPEC phase II will be different from the earlier stage. Talking on the second phase of the CPEC, Umar said these projects will be completed in partnership with the private sector. Some companies of Pakistan have already initiated joint ventures with China in agriculture research, Asad Umar said.
He also urged for political ownership of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and stressed for the constitution of a sub-committee in this regard.
Talking to Xinhua, Vaqar Ahmed, joint executive director at the Sustainable Development Policy Institute, an Islamabad-based think tank, said that the foreign direct investment by Chinese companies in the special economic zones under CPEC, is expected to be the major contributor to the uplift of Pakistan's economy in the post COVID-19 scenario.
The process of formation of joint ventures between the private sectors of both countries has already been initiated and will get a further boost when things got back to normal after the disease is defeated.