Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Friday broke ground on the 1200MW Chashma Nuclear Power Plant Unit 5 (C-5) in Mianwali which is likely to be completed in seven to eight years at a cost of around US$3.48 billion.
On June 30, 2023 the prime minister had witnessed the signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the C-5 project between China National Nuclear Corporation Overseas Ltd (CNOS) and Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC). Addressing the ground breaking ceremony, the prime minister said keeping in mind the country’s requirements of clean and cheap energy sources, the project should be completed before the given schedule.
Terming it a huge milestone and a symbol of cooperation between the two great friends China and Pakistan, Shehbaz Sharif said the project would help the country promoting clean, efficient and comparatively cheaper energy. He said after a pause of many years, the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) was going again in full swing. He gave the credit of concluding the agreement of C-5 to the coalition government and the SPD for their hard efforts. “Our detractors had been fabricating rumours all around that Pakistan was going to default on its sovereign commitments but we crossed all turbulent waters in just 15 months,” he added. However, he said the risk of potential default had been completely averted through team effort of the government.
The prime minister said a couple of days ago, there was an approval of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme and within 48 hours around $4.5 billion were transferred by the Pakistan’s brotherly countries Saudi Arabia and UAE besides another $1.2 billion from the IMF.
About 4 months ago, he said the Chinese government and commercial banks rolled over amounts back to Pakistan to the tune of $5 billion.
The prime minister, pledging to make the vocational education as the government’s number one priority, said skilled human resource earn more than the raw labour, hence increasing the country’s foreign remittances. He said vocational training was key to prosperity and development in today’s era as nations get prosperous only at the back of these skilled-based people. He hoped that after completion, the campus would play key role in promoting technical and industrial education in the country.
