ISLAMABAD: The 7th Joint Coordination Committee (JCC) on China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) between Pakistan and China, scheduled to be held here on November 21, will review and approve over 10 major projects.
The JCC is the apex decision-making forum on the CPEC which is jointly chaired by the planning and development minister and the vice chairman of National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) of China.
Ministry of Planning and Development has forwarded a detailed summary to Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi for approval regarding the major projects which would be discussed in the next JCC. According to officials at Ministry of Planning and Development, a number of important projects including rehabilitation and up-gradation of Karachi-Lahore-Peshawar (ML-1) railway track (1,872 km), Gwadar Airport, 5million gallon water desalination plant at Gwadar and technical and vocational institute at Gwadar will come under discussion.
Furthermore, China-Pakistan Friendship Hospital at Gwadar, Karachi Circular Railway and few other road and energy projects would also be discussed, and subsequently be approved by the JCC.
Apart from review and approval of various projects, a groundbreaking ceremony of construction of East-Bay Expressway, Gwadar Port is also expected during the JCC.
According to agenda of the meeting, a copy of which is available with Pakistan Today, a day before the JCC, a Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) will also be held on November 20 in which officials and members of various joint working groups from Pakistan and China will discuss the long-term plan, projects under industrial cooperation, transport infrastructure, energy security, social sector and tax-related matters to finally approve the draft discussion for JCC.
With opening remarks of Ahsan Iqbal and NDRC Vice Chairman Wang Xiatao, the first agenda item of the JCC will be to review the long-term plan, which according to an official of the ministry of planning ranges from 2014 to 2030. Later, the joint working groups on industrial cooperation, energy, transports, Gwadar, security and social sector will review their projects.
According to a CPEC project director/coordinator at the ministry, the meeting will also review the feasibility reports of Special Economic Zones (SEZs) for approval. According to him, feasibility studies of SEZs in Punjab, Gilgit-Baltistan and some other provinces have been received so far. All the major projects being discussed in JCC were earlier approved by the cabinet committee on CPEC on Friday.
The JCC is likely to approve a letter of expression for the airport, vocational training centre and hospital at Gwadar. The most important project is related to railways for which implementation plan of ML-I will be approved in the JCC.
The meeting will also finalise the design of New Gwadar International Airport (NGIA).
Talking about transport projects, the ministry official said that the JCC may also approve financial agreements on major road projects including KKH (remaining portion), DI Khan to Zhob and Khuzdar to Basima roads, Gilgit-Shandur-Chitral-Chakdara road, Naukundi-Mashkhel-Panjgaur road and Mirpur-Muzaffarabad-Mansehra road on November 21.
The major project in the transport sector is KCR which will cost over $2 billion.
According to the official, the 180-megawatt projects of Phandar and KIU hydel-power plants in Gilgit-Baltistan will also be approved. The projects were already discussed and principally approved in 6th JCC held in China.
Talking about the overall Chinese investment in Pakistan so far under the umbrella of CPEC, officials at the ministry said that 22 major projects of $27 billion were under implementation out of which the overwhelming majority of the projects were of energy. There were 15 projects of energy worth $22 billion approved under CPEC.
The value of investment will cross $50 billion with the implementation of the next phases of the project.
