MULTIBILLION dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), the flagship project of Belt and Road Initiative, envisaged by visionary and farsighted Chinese President Xi Jinping, is fast reaching fruition as long as its road infrastructure projects are concerned which indeed will open up new economic opportunities for Pakistan and the region offered by the improved connectivity.
And now the completion of CPEC’s biggest transport project – the 392 kilometre long Sukkur-Multan Motorway – ahead of its scheduled time indeed is yet another important milestone that will significantly reduce travelling time between the two cities of Punjab and Sindh provinces. The motorway is expected to be opened for all kinds of traffic by the end of August after inspection by the National Highway Authority (NHA). 90% funds for the motorway were provided by China whilst China State Construction did a marvellous job in constructing the motorway as per the modern standards which will not only will improve connectivity ensuring fast transportation of goods but also give a major boost to the landscape of the areas covered by it. We expect that other road infrastructure projects under the CPEC will also be fast tracked in order to fully reap the benefits of the Corridor at the earliest. Along with this, there is also need to expedite the work towards the expansion and upgradation of Railways infrastructure under the CPEC to integrate the region both with rail and road infrastructure in order to give the much needed stimulus and spur to the overall economic development. The enemy of the corridor project will not be happy over the development of the CPEC and we must remain ready to foil its nefarious designs. Any sort of propaganda against the project must be countered collectively by both Pakistan and China by staying engaged and exploring ways to expand the CPEC to other areas of mutual interests. Chinese Deputy Chief Mission Lijian Zhao really deserves applause for not only effectively highlighting the various projects being executed under the CPEC but always coming forward in a big way in countering the propaganda against it and that too with statistics to clear any confusion.
