Pakistan ripening benefits of CPEC and BRI
Staff Report
HUB: Prime Minister Imran Khan says the government will facilitate joint collaboration between Pakistani and Chinese businesses in various sectors.
Addressing inaugural ceremony of China Hub Power Generation Plant in Balochistan on Monday, he said this is the first joint project under China Pakistan Economic Corridor and we want to see the pattern in future too. He said a large number of Chinese business corporations are interested in investing in different sectors of the economy.
He said the government is moving towards the second phase of CPEC and it has established CPEC Authority to facilitate the projects under the program.
The Prime Minister said during his recent visit to China, the Chinese President and Prime Minister expressed interest to give momentum to CPEC projects.
The Prime Minister said the productivity of Chinese companies is quite higher than their counterparts in Pakistan and our country would like to benefit from it. He said we will introduce new techniques in farming sector in collaboration with Chinese enterprises.
The Prime Minister congratulated the Hubco Chairman Habibullah Khan on the project and asked him to use more indigenous coal for power generation. He also asked him to work on water projects for Karachi. He regretted that Pakistan has a rich hydropower resources and capacity which was not utilized effectively by the previous governments. Imran Khan said government is committed to increase ease of doing business in the country to attract foreign investment. He said red tapism and undue hurdles in the way of business are being removed.
Imran Khan said Balochistan is the province that is full of rich mineral deposits. He said during his visit to the US chairman of company previously working on Rekodik project informed him that Pakistan has one of the largest and finest quality gold reserves in the world. Chairman said they are still interested in working on the reserves as they believe that incumbent government of Pakistan is free of corruption. In past, a small group of people plundered the national wealth and filled their pockets.
The Prime Minister said apart from mineral resources, the province of Balochistan is also blessed with huge fisheries resources and its development can help earn valuable foreign exchange.
Imran Khan said PTI government inherited a record debt which led to more inflation, devaluation of rupee and other challenges. However, difficult decisions were made which have started yielding positive results. The Prime Minister said we have to give clean governance to our country for the future generations. Imran Khan said we are committed to mobilize the youth of the country for national development. He said youth are the biggest asset of Pakistan and government will give them skills training to work in various sectors. He said centers of artificial intelligence, robotics and other modern fields are being opened to prepare our youth for the modern work requirements.
Earlier, in his address Balochistan Chief Minister Jamal Kamal said investment worth billions of dollars in the province will change the outlook of Balochistan. He said Balochistan will become a hub of investment in the coming days. Jam Kamal Khan said Prime Minister Imran Khan is taking special interest in development of Balochistan.
He said it is an unexploited province and is the only place in Pakistan that can boost the economic frontiers of the country in the coming years. The Chief Minister said Balochistan is endowed with rich mineral resources that are largely untapped and investors can take advantage of these assets. Chinese ambassador Yao Jing, Federal Ministers and other senior officials were also present on the occasion.
