CPEC projects should be competed at the earliest: PCJCCI chief

Lahore: Pak-China Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCJCCI) President S M Naveed said on Wednesday afternoon that China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects should be completed at the earliest.

He said the CPEC projects were destined to open up plenty of new opportunities for young entrepreneurs in Pakistan.

Naveed was addressing an online meeting of PCJCCI Think Tank. The meeting was attended by PCJCCI Senior Vice President Daud Ahmed, Vice President Khalid Raffique, Secretary General Salahuddin Hanif and Executive Committee members.

The PCJCCI President observed that the CPEC had entered into the most important phase, where the projects were not merely limited to infrastructure.

The new projects, he said, would bring modern technology and advancement in the overall industrial sector of Pakistan. He appreciated the government for paying equal attention to CPEC despite an emergency because of corona pandemic in the country. He also applauded the government efforts to handle prevailing pandemic in a prudent manner.

He hoped that the second phase of CPEC would be completed within the stipulated timeline by moving forward on the fast track.

PCJCCI Senior Vice President Daud Ahmed said that the Century Steel, a Chinese firm with the investment of $240 million, was about to set up a steel mill in Rashakai Special Economic Zone (SEZ) which would produce about 1.5 million tons of steel.

The firm would also employ over 600 Pakistanis during construction phase while in second phase over 1000 people would be provided jobs. He added that the young generation was deprived of jobs due to the pandemic of COVID-19 and in this way people would get jobs to give a start to their careers.

Khalid Raffique Choudhry lauded the efforts of Chairman CPEC Authority Lt. General Asim Saleem Bajwa (retd) and said that due to the concerted efforts of the government of Pakistan, the economy of the country was gaining momentum despite the negative effect of global pandemic, especially the construction sector had been witnessing faster growth.

PCJCCI Secretary General Salahuddin Hanif said that because of the brilliant efforts from China and Pakistan, the first phase of the CPEC had been completed.

“We are quite confident to attract more and more investments in the CPEC projects under second phase,” he said, adding the projects completed so far in Phase-1 have already brought relief and started yielding dividends and tangible socio-economic benefits.

“The CPEC second phase projects would accelerate the pace of development in the country boosting economic growth and ensuring ultimate prosperity for the people of Pakistan,” he remarked.