High-level Chinese delegation due today
BEIJING: A high-level Chinese delegation led by He Xiao Wei, Vice Minister, Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation (MOFTEC), will pay a week-long visit to Pakistan from today (Thursday).
The delegation will attend the inauguration ceremony of the Karakoram Express Train to be held on August 14. The train will start operating between Lahore and Karachi after its formal inauguration by President Pervez Musharraf.
Official sources told APP that two other separate delegations from the Ministry of Railways and National Machinery Import and Export Corporation (CMC) will also be arriving in Pakistan by August 12 to attend the inaugural ceremony. These delegations will be led Vice Minister Railways Peng Kaizhou and Chen Weigen, President CMC respectively.
The delegations will also hold talks with Pakistani counterparts to further expand Sino-Pakistan cooperation for the rehabilitation of Pakistan Railways, including improving tracks and the signalling operation. The sources said China will extend all possible help to modernise the entire railway system in Pakistan within the next two to three years.
The Karakoram Express will operate with 14 air-conditioned coaches, which were recently manufactured in China. This is part of an agreement under which China has to provide 175 coaches and 69 locomotives to Pakistan Railways within a period of three years. The deal will cost nearly $200 million.
According to the sources, the second batch of 26 coaches will be dispatched to Pakistan early next year.
The 14 coaches have been manufactured under the supervision of the China National Machinery Import and Export Corporation (CMC) ahead of schedule. Each coach comprises 130 seats and 56 berths have been specially designed to meet Pakistan’s needs with special features such as specific rail width and Urdu signboards.
According to the agreement, 40 coaches and 15 locomotives out of 175 and 69 respectively are to be manufactured in China while the rest would be developed and assembled in Pakistan, aimed at acquiring transferring the technology.
Under the agreement, Exim Bank of China is to meet 87.5 percent of the total financial requirements on supplier credit basis, while Pakistan Railways will arrange rest of the amount. The repayment period for the credit is 15 years.
There will be a three-year grace period and the interest rate is about 5 percent. The Deputy Head of Pakistan Mission in Beijing Syed Hasan Javed said the Chinese government will undertake some other potential projects in Pakistan in the near future. He said China has committed over $1.5 billion in economic assistance, credits and investments to Pakistan in the public sector during the last two years.
The cost of projects currently underway is estimated at more than $700 million while those in the pipeline are worth $800 million. China will provide $600 million for Thar coal project, for which an understanding has almost been reached. The project is expected to be completed in 8-10 years, after completion of feasibility studies.
The Chinese commitments include $147 million for White-pipeline project, $200 million for Gwadar port, $25 million for Saindak project and $250 million for various power projects.
http://www.jang.com.pk/thenews/aug2002-daily/08-08-2002/national/n2.htm
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