Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Ahsan Iqbal reiterated the position of his government that it is committed to the completion of CPEC projects in time.

“In 2013 when law and order situation of the country was very bad, no international partner was willing to invest in Pakistan. The PML-N government brought the Chinese investment of $46 billion into Pakistan through CPEC,” the minister said while talking to media in Islamabad. “When Pakistan was very short on energy supply and had a crumbling infrastructure, it was China who came to Pakistan’s help in 2013. China invested $28 billion in these sectors in the five years of PML-N‘s last government from 2014 to 2018,” he further said. “Chinese help has enabled Pakistan to utilize its untapped resources like the coal reserves in Thar. Pakistan is becoming self-sufficient in electricity thanks to Chinese investment in this sector.”

The minister said that there are more than $1 trillion worth of investments floating in the international capital markets searching of a possible avenue. “Pakistan is not able to attract those investments because of political chaos, polarization and policy reversals,” he said.

He compared the foreign direct investments (FDI) going into Vietnam with those into Pakistan. He said that Vietnam received an FDI of more than $30 billion in 2020, whereas Pakistan received only $ 1.2 billion. As compared to FDI going into Vietnam, Pakistan received peanuts.

He called CPEC as part of the “strategic vision” of Chinese and Pakistani leadership. He said that China wants to see Pakistan grow as an advanced industrial economy. “So, under CPEC we are seeking to transform the structure of Pakistan’s economy from a low commodity agricultural economy to an industrial economy based on export-led growth."

While commenting on the industrial growth of the country, he said that the second phase of CPEC is particularly designed to boost industrial growth in the country. “There is a plan to develop nine special economic zones (SEZ) in the country. These industrial zones will accelerate production and reduce unemployment while making Pakistan self-sufficient in home-produced goods.”

Credit: Independent News Pakistan-WealthPak