ISLAMABAD
\nFederal minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives, Ahsan Iqbal said here on Tuesday that the incumbent government was hopeful to inject some fresh momentum into projects that fall under China\u2019s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), as it tries to boost the country\u2019s troubled economy.
\nThe government is looking forward to joint ventures for renewable energy projects, agriculture collaboration and possibly enticing some Chinese companies to relocate to Pakistan, Ahsan Iqbal, who also co-heads the committee responsible for the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor said in an interview with Bloomberg.
\n\u201cYeah, I\u2019m very hopeful because I was there in China recently and I had meetings with their senior leadership\u2026So I see great interest on the Chinese side to revive the momentum for CPEC and also to take it into the second phase,\u201d he said
\nPakistan was seen as a flagship destination for BRI projects, with CPEC \u2014 which includes a port in the southern town of Gwadar and new power plants \u2014 the crown jewel. The progress on new projects stalled in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and amid Pakistan\u2019s on-going economic difficulties that have required the International Monetary Fund\u2019s intervention.
\nAccording to Bloomberg report, projects worth about $25 billion came online in the first phase, including power plants that ended the nation\u2019s chronic power deficit. A Pakistani committee approved a long-delayed railway upgrade project last week.
\nThe project will be done in two phases \u201cso there is not a big burden on Pakistan,\u201d said Iqbal. The railway, in its first phase will run from Karachi, the southern coast city, to Multan, a little over halfway to the capital, Islamabad.
\nThe government has also finished some key BRI projects that were pending for years: a water-supply project in Gwadar, dredging work at the port and an electricity transmission line from Iran.
\n\u201cSo all these things really help China see that the new government is again serious and it restored their confidence that now Pakistan is, you know, serious about CPEC initiatives,\u201d said Iqbal. To mark the tenth anniversary of CPEC last year, China\u2019s Vice Premier He Lifeng unveiled five new corridors including one focused on growth to boost economic activity in Pakistan.
\nOne change in the second phase would likely involve Islamabad taking a step back while urging the private sector to forge partnerships with Chinese firms. The other big focus, albeit a long-shot prospect, is to try and attract Chinese firms thinking of relocating from China amid rising labor costs and heightening geopolitical tensions.
\n\u201cThat would be a success because at the moment more than 80 million jobs are being relocated from China to other countries because of the high level cost in China,\u201d said Iqbal. \u201cThey have gone to Vietnam and you know, Laos and Cambodia. There is now overcrowding there. So they are certainly looking for new places,\u201d he added. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ISLAMABAD Federal minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives, Ahsan Iqbal said here on Tuesday that the incumbent government was hopeful to inject some fresh momentum into projects that fall under China\u2019s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), as it tries to boost the country\u2019s troubled economy. The government is looking forward to joint ventures for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-409419","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-business"},"yoast_head":"\n