AJK to benefit immensely from CPEC: Acting President

Islamabad: Acting President of Pakistan Sadiq Sanjrani has said that the Azad Jammu Kashmir (AJK) will benefit immensely from the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

In a meeting with AJK Prime Minister Sardar Abdul Qayyum Khan Niazi here, Sadiq Sanjrani discussed matters relating to the promotion of tourism and industrial development in the AJK.

The Acting President assured full cooperation to the Azad Kashmir government for the promotion of tourism and hydro power projects in AJK, AJK Government spokesperson, Raja Azhar Iqbal told journalists after the meeting.

The AJK Prime Minister on the occasion said that soon after coming into power, the government in Azad Jammu Kashmir had begun a new era of progress and development the state in accordance with the vision of the Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan. He said the new AJK, government would channelize all the resources for the prosperity and development of the people of the state.

Recently, the AJK government and Chinese Three Gorges Company signed agreements related to US $2.4 billion worth 1124 megawatt Kohala Hydel Power Project under the CPEC. The Kohala Hydropower Project is a proposed run-of-the-river, high head project located near Kohala in AJK. The agreement for the project was finalised in 2020 and was later formally signed.

China Three Gorges Corporation (CTGC), a state-owned hydropower developer, had won the right to develop a hydroelectric dam in Pakistan on January 7, 2015. This will be a Chinese company’s largest investment in Pakistan.