ISLAMABAD – Federal Minister for Planning, Development and SpecialInitiatives Asad Umar has directed to ensure the groundbreaking of thefirst SEZ project under China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) atFaisalabad before the end of the calendar year.
According to a press release issued by Ministry of Planning ,Developmentand Special Initiatives, that the work expedited on two SEZs projectsincluding Rashakai and Dhabeji with an aim to achieve the goal of theirgroundbreaking within the current financial year.
The Minister chaired separate meetings to review the progress on CPEC andPSDP funded projects, here at Islamabad on Thursday.
Secretary Planning Zafar Hasan and senior officials of the ministry werealso present in the meetings.
The Minister received a detailed briefing on the PSDP funded projects.
It was noted that the fund release mechanism had been made much easier inthe recent months and the line Ministries could had much greaterindependence in spending their development budgets.
The Minister said that the Ministries and Departments must make sure thatthey make use of this opportunity and complete their projects on time.
He emphasized that effective monitoring and evaluation of the projects, wasessential to ensure their smooth and timely implementation.
He also directed that a greater focus effort be made to identify innovativefunding mechanisms to finance the infrastructure projects.
While chairing the meeting on CPEC, the Minister was given a detailedbriefing on the completed, on-going and pipeline projects under thebilateral program.
The Minister expressed satisfaction on the progress of variousunder-construction projects.
He emphasized that in the new phase of CPEC the focus would be on enhancingthe economic cooperation whereby business linkages and value chains wouldbe developed, benefiting both sides.
The Minister separately reviewed the progress of various planned SEZs underCPEC.
The Minister instructed all the relevant departments to expedited work onthe SEZ especially those at Rashakai, Dhabeji and Faisalabad, where somework had already been done.
He directed that the groundbreaking of the first SEZ under the CPEC atFaisalabad be ensured before the end of the calendar year and necessarywork be expedited to achieve groundbreaking of the two more SEZs atRashakai and Dhabeji within the current financial year.
The representatives of Ministries of Petroleum and Power assured theMinister that they would provide full support to these projects andcomplete the electricity and gas supply projects expeditiously.