April 05, 2017
President Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum (PBIF), President AKIA, Senior Vice Chairman of the Businessmen Panel of FPCCI and former provincial minister Mian Zahid Hussain on Wednesday asked the government to ensure more clarity on the CPEC projects.
Greater transparency will lead to reduced suspicions and augmented interest on the part of local and foreign investors, he said.
Mian Zahid Hussain said that government should take masses into confidence by informing about the amount of loans, repayment schedule and amount of foreign exchange which will be repatriated by the Chinese investors in near future.
Masses should be informed about the impact of loans, repayment and the impact of imports of machinery for the project and its impact on the overall balance of payment situation, he said.
The business leader said that opponents are taking toll on secrecy of CPEC as it is against the national interests as it is giving birth to doubts among the masses and the business community.
Some independent experts have estimated the annual repayments and other expanses to the tune of 3.5billion but it does not include the cost of power plants built under CPEC, cost of their fuel which will be more than 200 million dollars per annum.
The cost of the non-CPEC expanses like import of LNG, cost of regasification plants, cost of Neelum-Jhelum, Turbela and other power plants and projects is not included which will be in billions of dollars.
The business leader said that it is generally assumed that all the CPEC and non-CPEC power projects would generate costly electricity however some government officials claim that it would be between nine and ten cents per unit.
He said that government should try its best to complete the project well in time and keep the interests of masses supreme and to keep the opponents in control CPEC introduction campaign should be launched lest someone point figure towards them in future.
