ISLAMABAD: Planning and Development Minister Ahsan Iqbal said Pakistan is seeking to transform its economic structure through the multi-billion-dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project.
Speaking at a Pakistan Business Council event in Islamabad on Thursday, he described the corridor project as a strategic vision aimed at transforming Pakistan into an industrial economy. This will boost our exports, he said.
He noted that the first phase of the corridor project has helped Pakistan resolve energy and infrastructure bottlenecks while making strategic assets including Thar coal productive. He recalled that during PML-N’s final term, investment under CPEC was $29 billion.
Ahsan Iqbal said that political stability and policy continuity are necessary conditions to move the country forward on its development path.
In addition to raising the tax-to-GDP ratio to 18% from the current 9.5%, we must also increase domestic and foreign investment to solve economic problems, he said.
