SPEAKERS at a webinar opined that Pakistan needs to revisit its geopolitical strategic and economic framework in the context of the changing world landscape, especially in the Asia-Pacific region.
They said that Pakistan will be marking ten years of CPEC (China-Pakistan Economic Corridor) in 2023, which is pivotal to its economic security.
They pointed out that in 2023, we should give full play to the role of CPEC as a critical engine of Pakistan’s economic development.
As the present Government is fully motivated to reactivate CPEC and restore its original momentum, we hope that the proposal of the participants of the webinar to make CPEC as engine of economic development for Pakistan would receive positive response from the officials concerned.
This is important as the country is facing an acute economic and financial crunch and CPEC offers an opportunity to help address the woes of Pakistan in this regard.
Already, CPEC has brought US$25.4 billion in investment to Pakistan and created a total of 190,000 jobs and Chinese are more than willing to invest more in different sectors of the economy.
We have been pointing out in these columns that expeditious and successful implementation of all agreed projects and programmes under the framework of CPEC would help accelerate economic growth and strengthen the country’s ability to pay back its debts which are mounting with the passage of time.
The policy to take more loans to pay back previous ones is highly flawed and prudence demands a focus on improvement of the infrastructure, industrialization and optimum utilization of the country’s agricultural potential.
