President Dr Arif Alvi has promulgated an ordinance for the establishment of the ‘China-Pakistan Economic Corridor Authority (CPECA)’, Radio Pakistan reported on Tuesday.
As per the report, it is aimed at “accelerating the pace of CPEC-related activities, find new drives of growth, unlock the potential of interlinked production network and global value chains through regional and global connectivity”.
In August, Prime Minister Imran Khan announced that the government was forming CPECA to ensure the timely completion of the corridor’s projects. He had said that CPECA would help ensure coordination among the departments concerned.
“The completion of CPEC will not only benefit Pakistan and China, but also the entire region,” the premier had said, adding that the timely completion of CPEC projects was the top-most priority of the government and CPEC is a clear example of joint efforts and partnership between Pakistan and China.
The president’s promulgation of the ordinance for establishing CPECA coincides with Prime Minister Imran’s visit to Beijing which will include talks on the progress of CPEC.
Some officials and observers have said momentum on CPEC projects is slowing, in part due to concerns over the size of Pakistan’s debt and struggling economy, which led Islamabad to turn to the International Monetary Fund for a bailout package in July.
However, Minister for Planning, Development and Reform Khusro Bakhtiar at a news conference on Sunday denied there had been any slowdown in CPEC projects.
“(There’s) a narrative being built up that they have become slow; I reject it, it’s totally wrong,” he said.
The minister said: “There will be meaningful engagement on all aspects of Pakistan-China relations during the visit”, expressing the hope that it would take CPEC cooperation to new heights so that benefits of Pakistan’s economic progress could reach the people at the earliest.
He explained that Prime Minister Imran during his meetings with the president and prime minister of China would take up a number of projects, while technical discussions would follow later this month at the joint working group level and then during the Joint Coordination Committee (JCC) meeting in November.
