Chinese industrial relocation possible only with completion of nine CPEC SEZs: Planning Minister

Gwadar Pro

Islamabad: Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Ahsan Iqbal has said that Chinese industrial relocation was possible only with the completion of nine Special Economic Zones (SEZs) under the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

Speaking at a news conference here, Iqbal regretted that the work on the CPEC SEZs was slow and they could not be completed on time.

“There was little work on the projects of CPEC in the recent years. The work on 9 SEZs of CPEC was to be completed by 2020 but not a single SEZ has been completed,” he contended.

He stressed that the Chinese industrial relocation was possible only with the completion of these 9 CPEC SEZs, “which did not happen.”

Iqbal emphasized that the Chinese government was more interested in the Hattar SEZ project, but the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provincial government decided to transfer the project to Rashakai SEZ. “Now the government is trying to include Hattar SEZ also (for early completion),” he remarked.

The minister observed that the volume of the Public Sector Development Program (PSDP) was likely upto Pakistani Rs 700 billion in Budget (2022-23), which will increase more development opportunities in the country.

At the same time, he underlined that efforts will be made to raise upto Pakistani Rs 200 billion more through public-private partnership, which will accelerate development projects.

He said that in a total, 44 percent of PSDP projects were provincial projects and the remaining 46 percent were federal projects.

The minister informed that the government will work mostly on youth issues and water scarcity and other issues, which were very important for the sustainable economic development of the country.