Federal Minister for Planning, Development & Special Initiatives Ahsan Iqbal chaired a review meeting of the focal groups constituted by the Prime Minister to analyze recommendations made by the Chinese working team. The meeting was held in Islamabad on Tuesday and included Federal Minister for Maritime Affairs Qaiser Ahmed Sheikh, Secretary Planning Awais Manzur Sumra, the Chairman of the National Highway Authority, and high-ranking officials from various ministries and divisions, including Communication, Investment, Petroleum & Natural Resources, National Food Security, Power, Commerce, Economic Affairs, Interior, and Railways. This was the third meeting chaired by Minister Ahsan Iqbal, following the Prime Minister's directives, to review the draft plans prepared by the focal groups. The Minister emphasized the need for action plans for implementation with timelines. He further stressed the need to highlight where Pakistan has already made progress. During review of agriculture sector, the Ministry of Food Security highlighted that Pakistan lacks a long-term, comprehensive, and independent development plan for the sector. Minister Ahsan Iqbal directed the Ministry to engage all provinces, private sector stakeholders, and form a task force to draft an national agriculture development plan “Green Revolution 2.0”, which should be shared with the Chinese experts for their input. He also directed that CPEC five-year plan be finalized at the earliest. The meeting also reviewed the progress on Gwadar's connectivity. The concerned authorities reported that the M-8 Gwadar-Hoshab (200 km) and Khuzdar-Rato Dero (250 km) sections have been completed, with work on the Hoshab-Awaran-Naal section ongoing. The Minister emphasized that while billions of rupees have been invested in infrastructure development, efforts must also be made on creating economic benefits for backward areas through new connectivity. He also highlighted the importance of creating transshipment activities at Gwadar Port and directed the relevant authorities to expedite the feasibility study for the second phase of the Eastbay Expressway. While reviewing the mega CPEC project ML-I the Minister Ahsan Iqbal directed the authorities to fast-track the ML-I railway project in coordination with the Chinese side, following the Chinese Premier's commitment to advancing the project. He stressed the need for Pakistan Railways to enhance its organizational capacity, citing global examples where railway departments generate revenue through commercial utilization of valuable real estate. He noted that railway land worth trillions of rupees remains under utilized and directed that an action plan be developed within 10 days for optimising commercial benefits of this land. The Minister also proposed that a plan to utilize the skills of pensioners by offering them an extra allowance. He emphasized that a significant portion of the national treasury is allocated to pensions, and it is essential to benefit from the expertise of capable individuals who are currently receiving hefty pension and sitting at home idle. He directed that a mechanism be established to benefit from experience of pensioners particularly in education and health sectors. In the information technology sector, Minister Ahsan Iqbal underscored the importance of emerging technologies and called for expedited efforts to promote student exchanges in IT and Artificial Intelligence (AI) with China. The meeting also reviewed the ongoing efforts to ensure a consistent supply of clean drinking water and electricity to Gwadar.
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