ISLAMABAD: May 10, 2019: Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Reform Makhdum Khusro Bakhtyar has said that the incumbent Government is committed to accelerate implementation of CPEC projects and set timelines for authorities concerned for resolving all the pending issues related to the projects.

The Minister expressed these views while chairing the progress review meeting on CPEC in Islamabad on Friday. Chinese ambassador Yao Jing, PD CPEC Hassan Daud and senior officials from both sides were also present in the meeting.

During the meeting, projects of Orange Line, Eastbay Expressway, 300 MW coal based power plant at Gwadar and Kohala Hydropower were deliberated upon. Each project was discussed and scrutinized in detail and majority of the issues were resolved instantly. For remaining pending issues, the Minister directed the authorities concerned to resolve them within strict timelines and progress be reported on monthly basis.

Talking about Eastbay Expressway, the Minister said that the demand of local fishermen at Gwadar has been accepted and all efforts will be made to ensure timely completion of this project of national importance.

The Minister said that the Government is committed to development of Gwadar adding that provision of electricity and clean drinking water to Gwadar is topmost priority and all efforts will be made to expedite the start of 300 MW coal based power plant.

Khusro Bakhtyar noted that CPEC is progressing in the right direction and the present government has expanded its scope in consultation with Chinese Government to focus on industrialization, agriculture cooperation and socio-economic development.

The Chinese ambassador appreciated the commitment of Government of Pakistan for resolving all pending issues and fast tracking the CPEC projects. He also appreciated the new issue based progress review mechanism for effective scrutiny and monitoring of progress on CPEC projects.