China to give one billion dollars for 27 CPEC projects

Islamabad: China has agreed on a grant of one billion dollars for socio-economic development cooperation under CPEC. The first phase has shortlisted 27 projects from the areas of agriculture, education, medicine, poverty alleviation, water supply and vocational sector.

Under the agricultural sector Bacterial Grass (JunCao) technology training and promotional project will be initiated. Agriculture and scientific training on mouth and foot disease, animal husbandry, cotton, fruit and vegetables processing will also be provided.

Four projects under the education sector include the provision of teaching equipment and tools for 50 primary and secondary schools at district, tehsil and village level. China will provide 50 to 100 smart classrooms to universities across Pakistan. Maintenance and renovation of 50 schools in the merged FATA districts is also part of the MoU. 20,000 scholarships will also be given to Pakistani students.

In the medical field, projects signed as part of the MoU include the provision of medical equipment to 30 hospitals across Pakistan, construction of a hospital in Gwadar, cold chain equipment, transportation equipment and establishment of medical emergency center in Balochistan. China has also agreed to establish 20 bed centres each in Sindh, Balochistan and KP, while 10-bed burn centres will be established each in AJK and Gilgit Baltistan.

Four projects funded under the poverty alleviation sector include the provision of solar lighting equipment to 10,000 households in Balochistan, poverty alleviation courses, provision of emergency relief supplies for enhancing NDMA and the China-Pakistan rural poverty reduction joint research project.

Drinking water equipment will be provided to 800 water supplies sites in KP, water purification equipment to AJK and establishment of 5000 tons desalination plant at Gwadar Special Economic Zone.

Upgradation of 50 vocational schools across Pakistan, capacity building-up project, Gwadar vocational and technical school project, cooperative project with Pak-Austria Fachhochschule institute of Applied Science and Technology and Punjab-Tianjin University of Technology projects have signed under the vocational sector.

China International Development Cooperation Agency (CIDCA) will be funding projects in these six identified sectors.

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