ISLAMABAD: Committing the complete fencing of Afghan and Iranian borders as a priority to ensure peace and security, Pakistan asked China on Tuesday to finance the Main Railway Line (ML-1) and other infrastructure and road projects to expand the Corridor Economic China-Pakistan (CPEC).
At the conclusion of the ninth meeting of the CPEC Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC) here, the two parties also approved the Gwadar Smart City Master Plan and signed two Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) for cooperation in the field of health and commerce . They also signed the minutes of the meeting and inaugurated 392km of the Multan-Sukkur highway, completed with Chinese funds of Rs 294 billion.
The JCC was co-chaired by Planning Minister Makhdum Khusro Bakhtyar, and the vice president of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) of China, Ning Jizhe. He formed a joint project financing group to formally participate in project financing arrangements in ML-1, Bakhtyar said, adding that the billionaire plan inauguration ceremony was conducted within the next six months.
He said the government had decided to take an ML-1 loan and guarantee repayment due to the limitations of the Pakistan Railways. Responding to a question, he said that a project loan would not affect the country's debt situation to GDP because it would be completed in about five and six years and would also contribute to the size of GDP.
In response to another question, Bakhtyar said the two sides also decided to hold discussions on the Chinese financing modalities in Renminbi, as it was one of the six major currencies in the International Monetary Fund basket. For this, a group of experts at the central bank level and other experts would examine how to move forward.
He regretted that CPEC was previously seen as a replacement for the Public Sector Development Program, while its true potential lay in economic expansion and industrial growth for which the new government was establishing a new direction.
The minister said China would also provide Rs70bn financing for the Zhob-DI Khan highway to connect Islamabad-Quetta via the highway, while Pakistan would finance the Sukkur-Hyderabad highway through public-private financing where the Chinese would be welcome. to participate through open competition.
According to Bakhtyar, security on the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan was a challenge given its length of 2400 km and its fencing should have been done 10 years ago. He said it will now be completed in 2020 and that the same pace will be guaranteed on the border with Iran.
"Pakistan's security situation could not be 100 pieces in our hands until these borders remain porous. This is the most important security project that would also help achieve law and order, and military and civil authorities have jointly controlled the security situation to a large extent, ”he added.
He said the JCC reviewed the $ 12 billion project portfolio in the energy sector and noted that $ 4.2 billion had been completed or would be completed in 2021. He also expressed satisfaction with the 6390MW of the remaining plans that will be completed in 2025 or 2030 considering Pakistan's energy plan.
The country was also considering investments of $ 8-10 billion in refineries, petrochemicals and the oil and gas sector in 2-3 projects, the minister said, adding that the Chinese side was expected to enter steel that would help reverse the $ 4 billion steel imports from Pakistan.
The two sides also agreed to advance in the mining and mineral sectors, particularly in the excavation and evacuation of copper and gold, where China had extensive experience and imported copper from around the world. He said the two sides indicated accelerating the completion of the development of the social sector for which China had promised a $ 1 billion grant.
The Chinese ambassador, Yao Jing, said the two countries focused on energy, infrastructure, the port of Gwadar over the past six years and that this JCC sets a new direction for future projects, mainly in industrial cooperation, agriculture, affordable housing and minerals
The memorandums of understanding signed during the meeting related to the Federation of Chinese Trade Unions (ACFTU) and the Ministry of Planning to further strengthen worker exchanges and medical care between the Ministry of Health and International Development Research (RDI) ) for cervical cancer tests.
"We made steady progress in resolving issues related to the finalization of rates for completed energy projects, the Gwadar port concession agreement and the Kohala hydroelectric project," said the minister. Balochistan chiefs Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan also attended the JCC.
Bakhtyar said the remaining portion of the eastern corridor from Sukkur to Hyderabad (M6) will be completed in construction-operation-transfer mode under the umbrella of a public-private partnership and urged Chinese companies to actively participate in the bidding process.
He told the guests that Pakistan had established the CPEC Authority to work as a single window for all related problems to improve the pace of project implementation.
Jizhe said the Chinese delegation in this JCC was the largest to date, demonstrating the commitment to take cooperation with Pakistan to new heights. He said that high consideration will be given to socio-economic and industrial cooperation in the second phase of the CPEC.
Posted in Dawn, November 6, 2019
Source: https://www.dawn.com/news/1515210/pakistan-seeks-9bn-chinese-loan-for-ml-1-commits-to-border-fencing