China to provide $449m as supplier's credit for Neelum-Jhelum project

[LahoreEstate]

* WAPDA chairman says project to inject 969MW power into national grid

Staff Report

ISLAMABAD: A meeting presided over by President Asif Ali Zardari was informed on Saturday that China has agreed to provide $449 million as supplier’s credit for the Neelum Jhelum hydroelectric project and an agreement to this affect will be inked by May this year.

The meeting was held to review the progress on various developmental initiatives between Pakistan and China ahead of the president's forthcoming visit to China on February 20. The initiatives reviewed at the meeting pertained to the energy and power; agriculture; information technology and telecommunications; petroleum and natural resources; commerce; defence; and the banking sectors. During the meeting, representatives of various ministries and organisations presented detailed reports on the status of ongoing cooperative development projects and the initiatives undertaken between the two countries during the president’s visit to China in October 2008.

More power: WAPDA Chairman Shakeel Durrani said the Neelum-Jhelum Hydroelectric project would inject 969MW power into the national grid. He said a letter of intent had been issued to a Chinese company to build the over-$2 billion 1,100MW Kohala power project on build, operate and transfer (BOT) basis. He said a detailed feasibility and engineering drawing for the Kohala power project would be ready by August.

Following the briefings, the president emphasised the need for stepping up efforts to utilise Chinese experience regarding power generation; agriculture; and water usage. He said water and power shortage issues would continue to haunt countries like Pakistan for the near future, saying efforts must be increased to reduce this. He said the water shortage issue would likely have a profound impact on inter-state and intra-state relations.

In addition to the president and the WAPDA chairman, Defence Minister Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar; Special Adviser to the Prime Minister on Water Resources Kamal Majidullah; Special Envoy to China Khalil Ahmed; secretaries and senior officers of Foreign Affairs, Industries, IT and Telecom; and chairmen of the Board of Investment and PARC attended the meeting. Ambassador of China to Pakistan Luo Zhaohui also attended the meeting by special invitation

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