ISLAMABAD
As the slow pace of development on China Pakistan Economic Corridor is hindering the uplift work the All Pakistan Business Forum (APBF) on Sunday asked the government to sort out major bottlenecks to economic and social development which needed to be addressed without any delay to boost the economic growth in Pakistan.
APBF President Maaz Mahmood said that several countries have shown keen interest to develop infrastructure projects and industrial units under the umbrella of CPEC.
He said that more than 130 Chinese companies are working in Pakistan on CPEC projects and top priority should now be to revive the confidence of those working on CPEC. It is appreciable that almost 20 projects worth $16 billion were completed, including 10 power projects of over 5,000MW and HVDC transmission line of $9.5 billion.
APBF Chairman Ibrahim Qureshi said that the phase –II would focus on export growth and import substitution of steel and agricultural productivity by creating local employment opportunities and promoting joint ventures to make Pakistan a manufacturing hub.
He appreciated the government to establish a facilitation centre at the CPEC Secretariat to provide one-window facility to the international investors through coordination of various ministries and provinces. It is good that efforts are being made to clear billions of rupees of Chinese companies so that they can give dividends to their shareholders.
The APBF President pointed out that the investors were not satisfied with the pace of work on CPEC and no progress on the portfolio was seen during the last three years, calling for measures to advance the CPEC projects, maintaining that the second phase will prove to be instrumental in consolidating Pakistan’s economic development. He said the strategic cooperative partnership between the two countries has served the fundamental interests of the two allies and contributed to peace, development and stability in the region.
Terming the multi-billion-dollar China Pakistan Economic Corridor project pivotal to accelerating Pakistan’s economic development and regional prosperity, he observed that the expeditious completion of the CPEC projects should be the foremost priority of the government.
