LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif said on Monday that multifaceted China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) geared up economic development in the country as China has made billions of dollars investments in energy and other sectors in Pakistan.
Talking to a delegation of MNAs and MPAs from different districts of Punjab here, he said that timely completion of development schemes and savings in predetermined expenditures was a wonderful achievement of PML-N government.
Many of the CPEC related initiatives had been completed and being executed with total transparency, speed and quality, he said, asserting that many of the power projects had started generating electricity because of government’s sincere efforts. Chief Minister mentioned that a total of Rs. 165 billion had been saved in three major gas-based electricity producing projects, which was unprecedented in 70 years history of Pakistan.
He opined that CPEC was a symbol of development and prosperity and it would not only benefit Pakistan but also the whole region. The magnificent CPEC project, he said, had created new investment opportunities in Pakistan, subsequently creating thousands of employment opportunities.
Chief Minister said that CPEC would also eradicate menace of terrorism and fanaticism from the region and play an effective role in overcoming issues like poverty and unemployment. “We all should work collectively to make this essential project of national importance a success, as people of all the federating units including Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir will equally benefit from it,” he added.
Shehbaz Sharif said, Punjab government had promoted corruption-free culture and transparency in the province and this factor could be judged well in all the developmental schemes. The speedy development, he said, was fast ensuring relief and various other facilities to the masses, adding that journey of public service would continue. “As long as we are alive, we shall continue to serve the people and resources of the province have been mobilized to improve quality of life of the common man,” he vowed. He added that development of social sector was also first priority of his government and billions of rupees were being spent on projects of education, healthcare and clean drinking water.