Islamabad: Pakistan is to seek funds from China for the construction of Western Route at the eight meeting of the Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC), the apex decision-making body on China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a news source reported. The JCC meeting is scheduled to take place on December 20 in Beijing.
This was decided during a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on CPEC which was presided over by Federal Minister for Planning, Development & Reform Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtiar. Members of the cabinet committee and secretaries of the federal ministries concerned attended the meeting.
The meeting gave its approval to an industrial cooperation framework with China that will be signed at the upcoming JCC. It also decided to give top priority to development of Special Economic Zones and industrial parks with the cooperation of China.
The minister directed the officials concerned to finalise a schedule for the groundbreaking of Rashakai Economic Zone at the earliest by removing all bottlenecks, besides reviewing progress on Pak-China industrial cooperation.
It was decided in the meeting to seek finances for KKH Thakot-Raikot (remaining portion) and up-gradation of DI Khan-Zhob (Phase-1) project of the Western Route. Bakhtiar said the incumbent government accorded top priority to Western Route projects, which after their completion, would ensure uplift of impoverished areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.
The committee also reviewed the progress on Gwadar projects and instructed to complete all formalities for the early groundbreaking of Gwadar new airport, vocational institute, hospital, and 300MW power plant not later than the first quarter of 2019.
