ISLAMABAD: Caretaker Minister of Finance, Revenue & Economic Affairs Dr Shamshad Akhtar says Pakistan should take maximum advantage of CPEC, which could open up more corridors of cooperation in the region and the world. While speaking at the launching ceremony of Sustainable Development Policy Institute’s (SDPI) China Study Centre at Islamabad, Dr Shamshad Akhtar said the centre is a welcoming initiative, which could help bridge the policy-research gap. She hoped the centre will produce high quality research work for informed policy making. Dr Akhtar said China is the country which is systematically moving toward achieving sustainable development and Pakistan can learn from their experience. She said China is a major player in global economy, being member of G-20 countries. Pakistan can benefit from CPEC in terms of connecting to the rest of the world. In the second phase of CPEC, Pakistan needs to examine the opportunities and prioritise its development goals, she added. Chinese Ambassador Yao Jing said that the centre is timely and a kind of blessing for China and Pakistan. He said that China wanted to see Pakistan a developed and prosperous country and CPEC demonstrates “our commitment and support to Pakistan”. He said that CPEC is not only a determinant of the Pakistan-China relationship, but “our relationship is historic and has been built over decades”. He said that the governments as well as people of both China and Pakistan are committed to further strengthening the ties. “Our relationship with Pakistan is of mutual cooperation and not competition,” he added. SDPI Executive Director Dr Abid Qayyum Suleri said that Pakistan’s relations with China are beyond CPEC. He said that to understand the relationship between Pakistan and China, there is a need to understand China’s policy of engagement with the world, China’s vision behind the Belt & the Road Initiative and China’s policy of overcoming poverty and corruption. He said that there is dearth of knowledge and most of the discussions around CPEC and Pak-China relationship lack evidence. He said the centre will produce evidence based knowledge to bridge the policy research gap. The centre would serve as virtual study portal, where anyone can contribute or access to literature, he added. World Bank economic corporation former regional adviser Haroon Sharif said that focusing just on large infrastructure projects can lead to regional disparity and inequality, which needs to be addressed. He said both the governments of China and Pakistan must prioritise the development goals in CPEC and should enhance focus towards social sector, agriculture, industry and energy sector. He said that the model of the centre should be based on public private partnership principles to produce knowledge as per needs of the economy. There is an emergence of new connectivity and market of more than 700 million people in South Asia, Central Asia and China, which the world cannot ignore and need to be considered by both Pakistan and China, he added. Published in Daily Times, August 3rd 2018.