BEIJING: The authority formed to oversee the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project was being wrapped up as it had become dysfunctional, Federal Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal said on Wednesday, adding that control of the project was now back with his ministry.

Talking to reporters during a trip to China, he said that the CPEC Authority was created during 2019 to take the project away from Ministry of Planning and Development, which had successfully managed it for half a decade, from 2013 to 2018. “And when CPEC Authority was created, it proved to be ineffective; and after one year, it was made dysfunctional. So, it only existed on paper,” he added.

Mr Iqbal said now that the authority was being wound up, control of the project would be back with his ministry, giving the example of China’s National Development Reform Com­mis­­sion, which oversaw Beijing’s end of the economic corridor project. He hoped this would bring more clarity and focus to the CPEC project, enabling it to regain its former momentum.

Published in Dawn, December 19th, 2024