Utilising natural resources can help 'bid IMF goodbye'.

ISLAMABAD -- Senator Mushahid Hussain Syed has said that by utilising 'our natural resources, we can bid goodbye' to the International Monetary Fund's handouts.

'If we truly exploit and utilise our mineral wealth, natural gas, and offshore blue economy, cumulatively worth almost a trillion dollars, Pakistan can bid goodbye to the International Monetary Fund handouts, which we have received for 23 times, without bringing about quality change,' the senator said while addressing the workers of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects in Sindh on Sunday.

The parliamentary delegation was led by Senator Mushahid Hussain Syed, the chairman of the Senate Defence Committee and the Pakistan-China Institute (PCI). It included MNA Mahesh Mailani, Senator Dr Zarqa Suhrwardhy, MNA Qaiser Sheikh, Senator Qurratul Ain Marri, MNA Muhammad Abubakr and Senator Muhammad Akram Baloch.

The parliamentarians lauded the CPEC projects in Sindh, terming Thar as the 'bulwark of Pakistan's future energy security'.

China's total investment has been $26 billion, generating 85,000 jobs, including 12,000 in Thar, plus 28,000 Pakistani students now study in China, resulting in a huge socioeconomic transformation of the country, thanks to CPEC.

During the three-day visit, the delegation first visited the Power China project at Port Qasim, which generates 1,320 megawatts of electricity. Power China CEO Guo welcomed the delegation and briefed them on the project.

The Port Qasim power plant, an early harvest project of CPEC, provides electricity to over four million homes through clean energy, and it emits environment-friendly white smoke, using supercritical technology.

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On day two, the delegation flew to Thar where it first conducted a tour of the Sindh Electric Coal Mining Company, which is a joint private-public partnership with the support of the Sindh government and China, and...

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