Business
22:39, 18-Dec-2017
Long-term plans for China-Pakistan Economic Corridor
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The Pakistan government officially launched the Long-Term Plan (LTP) for the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) on Monday, extending the standing partnership until 2030.
The plan expands the scope of cooperation in various new areas including developing and expanding Pakistan’s economic base, infrastructure, industry, agriculture, trade, information technology and tourism on modern trends to help transform the country into an "Asian Tiger" by the year 2030.
Officials from the federal and provincial governments, representatives of the business and industry, academia, media and other fraternities attended the ceremony.
The Joint Coordination Committee of the CPEC formally approved the LTP at the 7th JCC meeting held in Islamabad last month.
It was reiterated that Pakistan has to pay only 1 or 2 percent interest on concessional loans given by the Chinese government for execution of CPEC’s related projects.
The concessional loans are mainly consumed for infrastructure development. These are also utilized for the energy-related projects. Through the loans and the investment, China is supporting Pakistan’s economy and helping to improve the living-conditions of the people.
In case of the investments coming from the Chinese enterprises, the interest rate is 5 percent or below, with the interest being paid to Chinese banks by the enterprises themselves.
The CPEC is a flagship socio-economic development project that is meant to serve all parts of the country.
Experts say that each project within the CPEC is important for both countries since it is the pilot project of the Belt and Road Initiative.
The long-term plan is a national level design and will effectively match relevant national plans and local plans of China as well as Pakistan’s Vision 2025. The short-term projects will be considered up to 2020, medium-term projects up to 2025, and long-term projects up to 2030 and beyond.