The chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pervez Khattak, has approved plans to invest US$245m in the construction of a cement plant in Haripur, The Dawn reports.

The moves comes as part of a wider package of measures intended to support projects relating to the China-Pakistan economic corridor.

At this point, no further details concerning the size of the plant or the operator have been released. Other projects which received funding at the same time are to be offered to Chinese firms so it is possible that this also applies to the cement plant. However, given the strength of Pakistan’s domestic cement industry it is possible that the plant may be run by a local firm.