ISLAMABAD: Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal on Thursday said Pakistan and China had agreed to broaden scope of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project.

Talking to newsmen after the 11th meeting of the Joint Cooperation Committee on the CPEC in Islamabad, Ahsan Iqbal said extending CPEC’s scope from government-to-government to business-to-business cooperation would help promote industrial sector, increase our export potential and foreign direct investment.

He said the JCC meeting agreed to promote industrial cooperation between the two countries as it was real spirit of the CPEC. He said the meeting decided to accelerate momentum of the CPEC projects across the country as the project remained stalled during the last four years.

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The minister said several new projects had been included in the CPEC and it had been decided to establish working groups and learn from China’s expertise in sectors including water resource management, information technology, mining, agriculture and exports.

He said the JCC meeting discussed delayed infrastructure projects like ML-I and Karachi Circular Railway and agreed to complete work on the projects soon.

Ahsan Iqbal said the all-weather strategic cooperative partnership between Pakistan and China has progressed to new heights.

He expressed satisfaction that since 2013, eleven energy projects of 6,370 megawatts under CPEC have been completed alongwith a high voltage DC transmission line of 880 km.

The planning minister said three more projects of 1200 megawatts will be completed by 2023-2024.

Expressing gratitude to China for its all-out support during recent floods in Pakistan, Ahsan Iqbal said the country is facing an estimated loss of 30 billion dollars due to devastating floods and the rehabilitation of flood affected people is a challenge no country can address alone.

He said we look forward to all our international partners and friends to extend help in this regard.