Federal Minister for Planning, Development & Special Initiatives Ahsan Iqbal chaired a detailed review meeting to assess progress on the implementation of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Action Plan for 2025-2029, finalised during Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's visit to China in August 2025. The meeting reviewed progress during the first year of implementation and discussed measures to accelerate work on agreed priorities.

While reviewing the progress, Ahsan Iqbal said that Pakistan-China relations had grown stronger during difficult periods, recalling China's critical investment when Pakistan was facing severe energy shortages. He said CPEC Phase-I brought around $25 billion in Chinese investment and added nearly 8,000 megawatts to Pakistan's electricity generation capacity, helping overcome the energy crisis and strengthen energy security.

He highlighted the development of Thar coal and fibre-optic network as key achievements, saying CPEC Phase-II would build on this foundation through business-to-business cooperation, industrial development, agricultural modernisation, minerals, human capital and technology. Ahsan Iqbal stressed that the private sector must play a leading role in realising CPEC Phase-II's economic potential, with the government providing an enabling environment for investment and business partnerships.

He said expanding exports was a "national emergency", with the target of $100 billion by 2035 essential for economic survival. He stressed that Pakistan could not afford political instability while pursuing economic transformation. He said recent strategic and diplomatic successes must be converted into economic gains through national unity, reforms and better governance.