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At a key meeting to discuss the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project, Pakistan expressed long delays on five key power and rail projects with China, media reports said.
The 11th Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC) of the CPEC met on Thursday and Pakistan urged China to put five projects worth $18.5 billion on the fast track.
According to the Express Tribune, Pakistan’s Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal expressed concern that any further delays would collapse the country’s railway system within a year and delay 3,100 megawatts of power generation.
However, no announcement was made following the meeting discussing “missed opportunities” and “long delays” in the implementation of the plan agreed eight years ago.
The five projects Islamabad has asked China to speed up include: the $10 billion Route I railway project, the $1.2 billion Karachi ring railway project, the $1.6 billion Azad Pattan hydropower project, the $2.5 billion Kohala power project and the $1.2 billion Kohala Power Project. The 3-billion-tal Block-I coal project was prioritized, the Express Tribune quoted officials at the meeting as saying.
“These projects face years of delays due to obstacles on both sides,” the official said.
Pakistan has asked China to consider Islamabad’s request to relocate the $584 million Gwadar power plant. The Planning Minister also mentioned that Pakistan has failed to benefit from China’s experience in developing Special Economic Zones (SEZs).
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“The government has yet to sign the minutes of the 11th JCC meeting and the results will be officially announced during Prime Minister Sheikh Baz Sharif’s visit to China,” the minister said. “The Prime Minister will be on a two-day visit on November 1.”
At least 28 Chinese projects worth US$18.8 billion have been completed, but there are still US$34 billion in the program. “If we don’t start the ML-I (Mainline-I railway project) immediately, the main line of Pakistan Railways may collapse within a year,” Iqbal told the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) vice-chairman.
It is worth noting that Pakistan Railways did not invest in the ML-I project as China was awarded in the CPEC fold. Discussion of the issues facing Chinese IPPs in CPEC projects was also a focus of the meeting.
The minister lamented the “long delay” in the implementation of three projects with a combined capacity of 3,100 megawatts. The media portal added that he urged China to ensure that the financing deal is completed as soon as possible.
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