by Shafqat Ali

ISLAMABAD, Nov. 5 (Gwadar Pro)-Iron Brother China is funding USD 1 bln in the first batch of Socio-economic Development under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Framework, a Pakistan-China Joint Working Group (JWG) meeting was told.

The JWG on Socio-economic Development under CPEC decided on to prepare documents for signing as deliverables of the forthcoming 10th JCC and also prepare projects for the third phase of the corridor, said an official statement issued here Wednesday evening.

The meeting was told that 17 projects were underway with the Chinese funding of USD 1 bln and more deliverables are being added for the next CPEC Joint Cooperation Committee - likely to be held in the third week of ongoing month.

The second meeting of JWG on Socio-economic Development under CPEC Framework was held on Wednesday via video link, to discuss and review the projects under USD 1 bln Chinese grant.

The meeting was co-chaired by Deng Boqing, Vice Chairman, China International Development and Cooperation Agency (CIDCA) from Chinese side and Mathar Niaz Rana, Secretary, Ministry of Planning, Development and Special Initiatives from Pakistani side.

Both sides expressed satisfaction over the progress of the projects being undertaken under this JWG in key areas of agriculture, education, health, poverty alleviation and vocational training. It was highlighted that the socio-economic cooperation between the two countries is as per the vision of the two leaderships.

The meeting reviewed the progress of fast-track and priority projects. The projects including agriculture technology laboratories, provision of equipment & tools and demonstration stations in the agriculture sector, smart classroom project and overseas student scholarship programme in the education sector, Pakistan Vocational Schools Equipment and solarization project in Balochistan in addition to drinking water supply project for Azad Jammu Kashmir and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were reviewed with satisfaction.

Moreover, Pak-China Friendship Hospital, Vocational Technical School and desalination plant in Gwadar were also discussed. It was reiterated to implement these ongoing projects as per the decided timelines.

The Pakistani side emphasized to expedite technical education projects including cooperative project with Pak-Austria Fachhochschule: Institute of Applied Sciences and Technology in KP and Punjab Tianjin University of Technology.

It was also suggested to carry out the Burn Centre projects in all provinces and regions on priority. Furthermore, the Pakistani side also discussed the poverty alleviation research project with Chinese side and desired to learn from Chinese experience in this area.

The Chinese side appreciated the level of preparation and commitment of the Pakistan towards early implementation of the projects and acknowledged the level of coordination provided by the Ministry of Planning, Development and Special Initiatives.

The Secretary Planning also suggested holding monthly review meetings to speed up the implementation of the projects under the Framework. The implementation in the COVID scenario also comes under discussion.

The meeting was concluded with the decision to prepare documents for signing as deliverables of the forthcoming 10th JCC. It was also decided to prepare projects for 3rd phase and request was made to Chinese side to send their experts for the implementation of priority projects.

The meeting was attended by senior officials and representatives of the federal ministries and provincial governments and representatives of the Chinese embassy. The two sides agreed that the pace on the implementation of the projects will be monitored to achieve the timelines.