Pakistan urges China to ‘remove barriers’ for timely completion of energy, infrastructure projects

ISLAMABAD: A senior Pakistani official said on Tuesday he had asked the Chinese authorities to “remove barriers” to ensure the completion of seven energy and infrastructure projects worth $12 billion, reported the local media.
Special Assistant to Prime Minister on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Khalid Mansoor told journalists a Chinese state insurer, Sinosure, was required to underwrite foreign investments but was not doing that in case of certain projects jointly carried out by the two countries.
“’I have written two separate letters to the vice chairman of National Development and Reforms Commission (NDRC) of China, urging him to remove barriers’ hindering the completion of these projects,” The Express Tribune quoted him as saying.
The projects that are waiting to be bankrolled include six energy and one infrastructure development scheme.
“We have requested China that the agreed projects should be taken to the development stage,” he told reporters.
Mansoor said in September that Chinese companies were not satisfied with the performance of Pakistan’s state institutions and their pace of work on the corridor project.
He said on Tuesday that Chinese companies working in the power sector had an overdue amount of Rs250 billion, reported Dawn.
Mansoor added the government was planning to extend the “commercial operations dates for these projects in a holistic manner because Covid-19 had created force majeure type of situation,” the newspaper said.