IT has repeatedly been assured at different levels that all projects under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) would be pursued vigorously and that the initiative was poised to enter its second phase but ground realities are quite different.
The Senate Standing Committee on Planning and Development deserves credit for focusing its attention on non-implementation of the CPEC and adopting a stand that represents aspirations of the people.
It is time a thorough debate should be held in Parliament as to what went wrong with the CPEC and why there was slow progress on projects despite the fact that the CPEC is a God-given opportunity to address fundamental problems of the country and put it on the sound path of progress and development.
The Senate Committee was not alone in expressing concerns over the slow pace of development on CPEC and dissatisfaction being expressed by the Chinese companies over the negligible progress over the past three years.
Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on CPEC Affairs, Khalid Mansoor, also stated that the Chinese companies were not satisfied over progress of work and that he himself was not satisfied with the progress of work on Gwadar Airport.
Apart from Gwadar airport, there are a number of other projects that are victim of delays mainly because of lack of required interest on the part of the Government.
Some projects are at an advanced stage of implementation but people have been deprived of their benefits as the authorities are not willing to make negligible investment to make them operational.
However, the remarks made by the Special Assistant that the Government was trying its best to revive confidence of the Chinese investors are encouraging and we hope required facilitation would be offered based on Mansoor’s own experience of working closely with Chinese companies.
The plan to have one window operation for all Chinese investors is a step in the right direction as already 135 Chinese companies are working on CPEC-related projects and more are ready to invest in special economic zones provided the Government shuns its lacklustre attitude.
The Government should streamline things before the next meeting of the Joint Coordination Committee on CPEC so that concrete decisions about speeding up work on the historic initiative on the occasion.
