The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is being jointly constructed by Pakistan and China with the Chinese investment of US $ 62 billion. The project comprises a network of energy producing plants (hydro, coal, and solar powered), roads, railways, airports, dry ports, fibre optic lines for communications and industrial zones being built in Pakistan to connect Kashghar city of China with the Gawader Port of Pakistan. The CPEC agreement was signed by Pakistan and China during the visit of the Chinese President Mr. Xi Jinping to Pakistan in April 2015.
The CPEC will interconnect China, Central Asian Republics (CARs), Russia, the Middle East, and Africa through the warm waters of the Arabian sea for facilitating wider and large scale trade, investment, tourism activities and for mutually sharing labour market.This will enable the people of this region and other regions to harvest common benefits,which will add to their economic well being and prosperity, within the context of Chinese President, Xi Jinping’s concept of the shared destinies.
The CPEC is being built as a pilot project of China’s Belt and Road (B&R) Initiative that is aimed at interconnecting various regions and continents of the world as part of China’s vision of shared destinies with its neighbours and beyond through joint infrastructure and economic development projects located in various countries via roads and the silk route that passes through seas interconnecting various important trading ports of many countries in Asia, North Africa and Europe. The CPEC connects the B&R road and the silk roads.
The CPEC will interconnect China, Central Asian Republics (CARs), Russia, the Middle East, and Africa through the warm waters of the Arabian sea for facilitating wider and large scale trade
The CPEC is planned to be constructed in four phases. First, the Early Harvest 2015?2019, including an early completion of the projects, mostly related to Energy sector to end energy shortage in Pakistan. Second, short term projects up to 2022 mainly comprising Roads, Gwadar Development, Optic fibre network and the Hydel, coal mining and power projects. Third, medium projects up to 2025 comprising Railways and Industrial zones. Fourth,long term projects up to 2030 including the completion of Industrial zones, Agriculture, and Tourism etc.
The construction of the Phase 1 of the CPEC is progressing as per the plan. As per the report of the Chinese Embassy, whereas 15 early harvest energy projects with a total generation capacity of 11,110MW were planned as a priority, seven projects have been completed adding 4200W to the national grid, while six projects are “under construction” with a total capacity of 6,910MW. The major part of the road has also been completed, and upgrading of the railway line from Karachi to Peshawar, and the construction of the industrial zone at Rashkai, KP, and dry port at Havellian are about to be started.
The CPEC related cooperation with China includes;Trade &market access,industrial development,socioeconomic development,poverty alleviation,agriculture modernization, marketing, Gwadar oil city and blue economy,Regional connectivity and third country participation.This cooperation with China will accrue following advantages to Pakistan. The relocation of Chinese export-focused light manufacturing and labour-intensive industries will help to add substantial share in exports. Moreover,the expansion of the IT sector through joint ventures with China, along with the upgrading of technology and capacity enhancement will increase productivity.
In the areas of the agricultural modernization and marketing,the Pakistan government has prioritised valueaddition and co-branding of dairy, livestock and poultry sectors to uplift these sectors.The collaboration with China is also being promoted in the productivity enhancement of fruits and high-value crops through the transfer of technology in precision agriculture (drip Irrigation, sprinklers), along with the modified and high yield variety seeds for crops diversification to reduce the cost of production/prices and substitute the import of edible oils and pulses.
For the socio-economic development and poverty reduction, Chinese experiences will help a great deal. Through CPEC, more than a million direct jobs and manifold indirect and induced ones will be created to tackle unemployment and poverty reduction. Besides, capacity development of skills via technical and vocational centres across the country along with thecommunity-based projects in underdeveloped areas will also be established.
The government is also raising the prospects of Gwadar through the concept of the “blue economy”. The establishment of Oil City Gwadar to substitute refined oil imports with crude oil are also the positive steps taken in the right direction. Furthermore, the development of aquaculture for fisheries and seafood along the coastal area would also be tapped. The Coastal Tourism will also further the prospects of Balochistan in particular.
The above discussion indicates that the CPEC is the project that will benefit not only Pakistan and China,but the whole region including the CARs, Russia, Afghanistan, Iran, India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka by enhancing trade, and investment opportunities and increasing trade and investment related individual countries’ and regional productivity, economic growth and employment opportunities. The enhance economic growth and employment opportunities in the region will certainly help in increasing the countries’ and individuals’ incomes. This will kill the poverty and bring the prosperity to the regional countries as well as their people. To conclude, it can be stated with almost surety that the CPEC is a gateway to the prosperity of Pakistan and the region.
The writer is a former Research Fellow of Islamabad Policy Research Institute (IPRI), andEx Senior Research Fellow of Strategic Vision Institute (SVI), Islamabad