Saindak Copper Gold Project
The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet will take up today an 11-point agenda that includes the extension of lease to Chinese contractors of the Saindak copper-gold project and the revival of tax concessions to Chinese power producers as part of the efforts to attract investment to the second phase of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). To be presided over by Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin, the ECC will also consider a payment plan for public-sector power producers on the pattern of independent power producers (IPPs) as part of revised tariff agreements of 2020. Metallurgical Corporation of China (MCC) and state-owned Saindak Metals Ltd (SML) signed an agreement in 2017 under which the Chinese firm kept on operating the Saindak copper-gold project for five years. The lease is set to expire on Oct 30. The two companies had originally signed in 2002 a 10-year contract, which was extended for five years in 2012. The terms of contract have been kept confidential a...