May 26 , 2015
News
‘Pakistan will become rising economy after CPEC completion’
APPISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Reforms Ahsan Iqbal said on Monday that economy of Pakistan was stable and now at take-off position and after completion of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project it would be included in the rising economies of the world.
“The perception and image of Pakistan at the world level is now being positively improved due to the huge Pak-China economic partnership,” Ahsan Iqbal said while addressing a pre-budget consultative session with the presidents of chambers of commerce and industry from across the country at the ministry.
He said through $46 billion of Chinese investment Pakistan had got a big opportunity to develop and prosper its economy through CPEC and “we will have to avail this chance”. He said this economic turnaround has been given a positive recognition by all world financial institutions, banks and journals. He added, “We need to broaden the tax regime by bringing in new taxpayers including evaders and non-tax payers in the tax net to increase revenue in order to spend more funds on development projects.
The federal minister said as compared to the economic situation in 2013 at the general elections, now country’s economy has recovered considerably due to successful and prudent government policies. He said that main focus of CPEC is on three areas - raising Asia, one road and one belt and concept of regional connectivity to benefit the 2.5 billion population of the region.
Ahsan once again strongly rejected any plan to change the CPEC route and termed the rumours from different quarters as attempts to create controversies over the important project of national significance. He said that maximum benefits would be achieved from CPEC, undertaken by both the countries. Pakistan had also got opportunities to prosper in 1960’s and at start of 1990’s but “we lost those chances to become an economic tiger, as political destabilisation was the major cause behind that”, he added. He said internal stability and better law and order situation were pre-requisite for economic development and prosperity of any country and these would improve foreign investments in various sectors of Pakistan as well. “The ultimate objective of CPEC is peace, prosperity and well-being of the people of the two countries, the region and the world,” he said.
The federal minister highlighted the recent progress on CPEC, saying that the long-term planning was expected to be finalised by July this year and the working group on industrial cooperation was also expected to meet around the same time. He hoped that economic activity along the corridor would flourish and more industrial activity would be generated in the industrial zones and estates in Pakistan, through forward and backward linkages.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk