Pakistan expects Turkey to soon join the gigantic China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a senior Pakistani minister said.
Federal Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal told Gwadar Pro on Monday night that Pakistan wanted Turkey to be an active part of CPEC.
“Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has floated a proposal to China to include Turkey in CPEC, and we expect a positive response,” he maintained.
Iqbal mentioned that in principle, Pakistan and China were not against participation of any other country in CPEC.
“For regional countries, we are even more willing to welcome joint efforts. CPEC is a massive plan for the whole region and beyond,” he observed.
Recently, PM Shehbaz Sharif had proposed that CPEC be turned into a “trilateral arrangement” between China, Pakistan and Turkey so that all three friendly nations could benefit from its potential.
Sharif made the remarks while addressing a launching ceremony at Karachi Shipyard and Engineering Works for the third MILGEM Corvette built by Turkey on May 20.
“Trade activities have the potential to increase manifold with the development of financial and industrial activities. The ongoing CPEC project is set to translate our desire to enhance regional connectivity and maximize trade with Gwadar at its focal point,” the PM had said.
He added: “I would like to avail this opportunity to propose that this CPEC be a trilateral arrangement between China, Pakistan and Turkey and let us benefit from its wonderful potential to benefit our nations,”
CPEC is more than a US $ 60-billion project that Islamabad says will transform Pakistan by improving the country’s infrastructure, energy, industrialization, socio-economic development needs and bringing an improvement in the livelihoods of the people.
CPEC is a 3,000-km long route of infrastructure projects connecting China’s northwest Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and the Gwadar Port in the western Pakistan province of Balochistan.
Federal Minister Ahsan Iqbal underlined that inclusion of other countries, especially Turkey, in CPEC will bring a visible change in progress in the CPEC projects.
