Speaker National Assembly Asad Qaiser was chief guest at a ceremony organized by Pakistan-China Institute along with Power China in Islamabad today, to present Report on Energy Projects of CPEC including a specific one on the first power project, the Port Qasim Power Project of 1320 MW.
Speaker Asad Qaiser appreciated the efforts of Power-China for promoting of CPEC and development of energy infrastructure in Pakistan, stating in clear term that the “Parliament of Pakistan fully supports CPEC and, Insha Allah, we will take it forward, including the second phase started with the Rashakai Special Economic Zone, whose ground breaking is scheduled in December 2019.” He also announced that the National Assembly will organize a seminar in December to discuss expansion of CPEC beyond Pakistan and China to Central Asia and he said that he had instructed the Parliamentary Committee on CPEC to initiate seminars in different parts of Pakistan. Stating that “I am representative of China in Pakistan”, Asad Qaisar said that he would ask the Chinese friends to open up their market for Pakistanis especially in the field of agriculture. He also praised the positive role of Senator Mushahid Hussain in the promotion of CPEC.
Later, a video of the Port Qasim Power Plant was also shown on this occasion and Speaker National Assembly unveiled Power-China’s “Pakistan Sustainable Development Report” as well as two research reports prepared by the Pakistan China Institute on the Port Qasim Power Plant, on Exploring Socio-Economic Impact and the other on Exploring Environment effects. Earlier, Senator Mushahid Hussain and other participants including Federal Minister for Energy, Chairman Parliamentary Committee on CPEC and Chinese Ambassador addressed the ceremony. The participants lauded CPEC as the “economic future of Pakistan” and termed CPEC as a “success story”.
The Speaker National Assembly Asad Qaiser addressed a seminar on role of civil society in promoting social development in Islamabad, today. While addressing the audience, has said that socio-economic uplift of the society was the top priority of the present government and policies in that regard were being actively pursued through. He said that socially developed society and individuals can better play their role in national development. He said that qualitative changes in the structure and framework of the society within religious and cultural norms were imperative for national development.
Speaker Asad Qaiser while praising the role of civil society in social development said that it had created an immensely informed society which was aware of its national obligations. He said that government could not solely achieve these objectives; however, with collective efforts of the civil society organizations, the government’s efforts could be supplemented. He said that Parliament was alive on this issue and would always extend its cooperation in that regard.
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