Islamabad: Planning Minister Asad Umar held meetings with key economic ministries on Thursday to expedite the pace of developmental work being conducted on China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects — as well as to launch Faisalabad’s Special Economic Zones (SEZ) before December 31 — according to a news source.
He directed the ministries to decrease the amount of time between project conception and implementation. Umar emphasised the ground-breaking of SEZs, and stated that at least one of them should be accomplished by December 31. He made this statement while reviewing the status of CPEC projects and those projects funded by the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP).
He noted that there had been significant progress on the SEZ in Faisalabad, known as the Allama Iqbal Industrial City (M3), and reiterated that its ground-breaking should take place before the end of the calendar year.
In addition, he appreciated the work accomplished on the Rashakai and Dhabeji SEZs, and called for expediting its progress so that their ground-breaking could take place by the end of the current fiscal year. The Ministries of Power and Petroleum stated that they would prioritise the supply of electricity and gas for the development of these projects.
Furthermore, Umar called for including the local private sector in these projects, so that the overall economy could benefit with the involvement of local businesses, along with the Chinese investment already involved.
