Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has said that the launching of big economic projects like Chashma 5 Nuclear Power Plant in the country is a slap in the face of those who were spreading rumours of country’s default.
The prime minister was addressing a ceremony after performing the groundbreaking of 1200 megawatts Chashma-5 Nuclear Power Plant in Mianwali on Friday. The project is likely to be completed in seven to eight years at a cost of around US$3.48 billion.
On June 30, 2023 the prime minister witnessed the signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the C-5 project between China National Nuclear Corporation Overseas Ltd (CNOS) and Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC).
He said that the Chashma 5 Nuclear Power Plant is a milestone, terming it a vision of low cost and environment friendly electricity project in the country.
The prime minister was of the view that the project was a reflection of mutual cooperation between China and Pakistan.
“This mutual cooperation to promote clean, efficient and comparatively cheaper energy is a gift of friendship between the two countries and a model for other countries to emulate.”
He said after a pause of many years, the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) was going again in full swing. He gave the credit of concluding the agreement of C-5 to the coalition government and the SPD for their hard efforts.
He said that the project has also been declared safe by the International Atomic Energy Agency.
“Our detractors had been fabricating rumours all around that Pakistan was going to default on its sovereign commitments but we crossed all turbulent waters in just 15 months,” PM Shehbaz said adding “Such projects are a slap in the face of those who spread those rumors”.
However, he said the risk of potential default had been completely averted through team effort of the government. The prime minister said a couple of days ago, there was an approval of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme and within 48 hours around $4.5 billion were transferred by the Pakistan’s brotherly countries Saudi Arabia and UAE besides another $1.2 billion from the IMF. About 4 months ago, he said the Chinese government and commercial banks rolled over amounts back to Pakistan to the tune of $5 billion. He paid his tributes to the Chinese President XI Jinping, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman and UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan for their support in need of hour.
He informed that as a result of serious efforts by the coalition government and himself, the Chinese company kept the cost of the project at the level agreed upon in 2017-18 by then PML-N government and not include the average inflation of around 10% in the project cost. Further, he said on his request, a discount of Rs 30 billion was also given to Pakistan which reflected a sense of sincerity between the two countries.
Charge D’affaires of the Chinese embassy in Pakistan, Pang Chunxue said C5 would help Pakistan building low carbon, clean and cheap energy which would also produce local jobs and would engage the local industries to contribute in the project.
