CPEC a game-changer for Pakistan, will transform region: PM Nawaz

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ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, addressing participants at the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Summit and Expo in the capital on Monday, said that the project will transform the entire region.

PM Sharif, who inaugurated the two-day CPEC Summit and Expo earlier today, said that CPEC would be a game-changer for Pakistan and would serve as a gateway to Pakistan, China and other countries in the region.

"Our relations with China are of the utmost importance," the premier said, adding that the benefits from CPEC would be vast and permanent.

He said that investments worth $35 billion are being carried out in the energy sector to solve the country’s energy problems.

Majority of the energy projects would be completed in 2018 resulting in an addition of 10,400MW of energy, he added. The next 30,000MW will come in the following 10 years, he said.

The prime minister added that $10bn would also be dedicated to railway and infrastructure.

PM Nawaz also said that these projects would usher in a new era for Pakistan and eliminate poverty from the country.

He said that the CPEC project was a game changer not just for Pakistan but for the whole world, adding that unemployment would also end in Pakistan because of the mega-project.  

"Pakistan is back on the trading map and wants to trade with the rest of the world," he said. He said that the country's foreign exchange reserves had been doubled.

Speaking on the occasion, Federal Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal said that CPEC was moving forward successfully.

He said that from $46 billion investment, $18bn work was currently underway while $15bn more was in the pipeline.

The federal minister said that Pakistan and China would start a common satellite very soon, the first phae of which would be finished in 2017.

The Chinese ambassador to Pakistan, as well as 140 Chinese delegates, was present at the event. The Chinese ambassador said that CPEC had now entered the implementation phase.

A number of local and international companies are participating in the summit.