PM-Cabinet--Overall Lead--Two--ISLAMABAD

(UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 18th August, 2016) The Cabinet was informed that considerable part of portfolio under the CPEC has been energized while the remaining are in the pipeline. The Prime Minister expressed his firm support for the Thar Coal project, and stated that had its potential been exploited 50 years back, the nation would now have been an energy exporter. Progress made so far on the Gwadar port project and allied infrastructure facilities was also reviewed in the meeting.

The Prime Minister directed the concerned departments for making progress on initiation of work on Gwadar Airport and the Eastbay Expressway at the earliest. He said that work on the technical and vocational training institutes of Gwadar be done on a fast track basis, making them operational as soon as possible. The Prime Minister stressed upon the concerned ministries to expedite the process of land acquisition for the hydel power projects, and adopt a forward looking strategy for overall economic development including energy and infrastructure components, so as to cater to the needs of the future generations.

The Cabinet, while approving in principle the summary of the Housing and Works division regarding the Joint Venture Policy for Land Development in collaboration with the private sector, with the objective of providing accommodation or plots to government servants before retirement, formed a Committee to finetune the policy guidelines.

The policy envisages providing plots to 100,000 Federal Government employees. The Committee shall comprise of the Minister for Housing and Works, Akram Durrani, Minister for Interior, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, Minister for Law and Justice, Zahid Hamid, and may co-opt any other member.

The Committee will present its report to the Cabinet. The Federal Cabinet considered and accorded approval to various Memorandum of Understandings (MoU) which include an MoU between Government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and the Government of Turkmenistan on Defense Cooperation. Ex-post facto approval for signing of the "Loan Agreement for Energy Sectors Reforms Programme-II" between the Governments of Pakistan and Japan/JICA. Negotiating Memorandum of Understanding between office of the Auditor General of Pakistan and the National Audit Department of Malaysia on Cooperation in Public Sector Auditing. Approval for signing of bilateral MoU between the Supreme Audit Institution of Pakistan and the State Audit Office of Vietnam on Cooperation in Public Sector Auditing Approval for initiation of negotiations between the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and the Central Bank of Russia on signing of MoU on "Banking Supervisory Cooperation". Approval for signing of agreement between Pakistan and Turkmenistan on Abolition of visa for Holders of Diplomatic Passports. Approval for signing the Negotiated Treaty on Extradition between the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and Republic of Kazakhstan - Interior Division. Approval in principle for initiating negotiations on the Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and Government of the Republic of Kenya on Cooperation in Combating Illicit Trafficking and Abuse of Narcotic Drugs, Psychotropic Substances and their Precursors.