The Sukkur to Multan section of the Peshawar-Karachi highway has been completed and thus opened for traffic earlier this month. The Peshawar-Karachi highway is the largest development project under CPEC.
Lijian Zhao Spokesman & DDG, Information Department, Foreign Ministry China also tweeted that the largest project under China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, Pakistan Peshawar-Karachi Highway (Sukur-Multan section), was handed over and opened to traffic on December 16.
The project is a 6-lane motorway that connects Karachi and Hyderabad via the M-9 route. The motorway’s Multan-Sukkur section is reportedly 392 kilometers and has a speed limit of 120 kilometers per hour for light traffic vehicles.
The highway will be 1100 kilometers long
The full length of the highway will be 1100 kilometers. As Lijian Zhao reported, a total of $2.89 billion has gone into the completion of the Multan-to-Sukkur section of the project. While commending the people involved, Zhao also added that the project was completed ahead of its intended deadline.
9/9 M5 project has provided the most comprehensive security for the Chinese. 4500 security personal including army ,police and security guards have been mobilized.this assured the success of this project.@zlj517 @CathayPak @CPEC15 @PDChina pic.twitter.com/PDcPGVizYy
— DingZJ丁肇潔 (@CPEC_CSCEC) December 17, 2020
Prime Minister Imran Khan had last month also announced the initiation of the Main Line-1 (ML-1) railway project. The ML-1 project is also a part of the CPEC projects. It is also, reportedly, the biggest railway project in Pakistan to date. The project will facilitate train passengers to travel from Karachi to Lahore and vice versa in just seven hours, the premier had said.
It is expected to be a game-changer for the country’s transit trade.
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The Sukkur-Multan section of the Pakistan Peshawar-Karachi Motorway (PKM), the largest infrastructure project along the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), was inaugurated on Nov. 5 in Islamabad. The project was undertaken by the China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC).
Sukkur to Multan motorway was inaugurated by many notables
The inauguration ceremony was attended by Ning Jizhe, deputy director of the National Development and Reform Commission of China, Murad Saeed, federal minister for communications of Pakistan, Yao Jing, Chinese ambassador to Pakistan, Wang Zhihua, economic and commercial counselor of the Chinese Embassy in Pakistan, Zheng Xuexuan, board director of CSCEC, Sikander Qayum, chairman of the National Highway Authority (NHA) of Pakistan and Mansoor Sirohey, a member of NHA, Shan Hongjun, deputy director-general of the Department of International Cooperation of China’s Ministry of Transport, and Jiang Juhua, secretary to the board of directors of the Export-Import Bank of China.
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The motorway is a key project on the Belt and Road and the south-north transport artery of Pakistan. According to an ambitious plan and high standards, the CSCEC team started constructing it in August 2016 and accomplished its construction through high-quality management. Now, it has become a model project of friendly cooperation between China and Pakistan.
GVS News Desk