ML-1 hailed as symbol of strong Pakistan-China friendship

By Masood Sattar Khan

(Pakistan News & Features Services)

“With the construction of industrial parks and ML-1 project under the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and the advancement of infrastructure in Pakistan, it is believed that the supply chain of infrastructure projects in Pakistan will be improving.” 

This was observed by Wang Yantao, Executive Vice President of PowerChina International Group Limited, in an interview. 

“With the support of Chinese and Pakistani governments, we hope to actively participate in the construction of ML-1 railway project to drive Pakistan's capacity building, setting up a milestone to China-Pakistan friendship,” Wang said. 

Taking advantage of its leading position in the field of electric power, PowerChina actively carries out infrastructure construction in Pakistan, such as Qasim coal-fired power plant, Dawood wind power project, Tarbela 4th extension hydropower project and Haveli gas power plant. 

Despite the severe impact on domestic and foreign logistics in the midst of COVID-19 outbreak, the company has gone all out to safeguard the delivery of equipment and material, anti-epidemic products in particular, and ensure the operation of construction without shutdown.

“Our company has provided nearly 10,000 jobs in Pakistan. Instead of dismissing any employees during the epidemic, it provided centralized working and living environment to protect them from coronavirus infection,” Wang disclosed. 

With both Chinese and Pakistani staff sticking to their posts amid COVID-19 pandemic, the Qasim coal-fired power station saw an increase in its electric energy production this year, in accordance with Pakistani government's requirement for power dispatch. 

“As Pakistan has a large demographic dividend, its complete education system and vocational skills training system have cultivated engineers and technicians with qualified skills, as well as financial management personnel,” Wang said, citing PowerChina-invested Dawood Power Generation Company, which hires only one Chinese employee, while the rest is locally recruited. 

Wang added that while Pakistan boasts rich building materials of superior quality, such as cement, sand and wood, there’s a lot of room to push forward the industrialization by establishing its own industrial system to save foreign exchange and increase added value. 

In the field of project contracting and infrastructure construction, Pakistani companies have made rapid progress through working side by side with Chinese enterprises on some large projects. 

“While Pakistani project contracting enterprises have advantages in human resources, project management needs to be strengthened through cultivating talents with comprehensive quality and more effective integration with international resources.” Wang commented.