The federal government on Tuesday notified the appointment of Lt-Gen (r) Asim Saleem Bajwa as the first chairman of the newly-established CPEC Authority. The Authority was established through a presidential ordinance last month for coordination, monitoring and evaluation to ensure implementation of CPEC-related activities. The former DG ISPR, who also served as commander Southern Command, has been appointed for a period of four years, said the notification, adding the tenure will come into effect from the date of joining.
The idea of the CPEC Authority was floated in 2016. However, the then prime minister Nawaz Sharif had shot it down. About two months ago, a joint parliamentary committee on CPEC also opposed the setting up of the authority through a presidential ordinance. The selection process for the appointment of the CPEC Authority chairman started and completed the day the government formally announced replacing Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtyar with Asad Umar as planning minister.
