THE data released by the Chinese Foreign Ministry has effectively negated the propaganda against different aspects of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and instead highlighted its immense benefits to the economy of Pakistan. As per details given by its spokesperson, CPEC attracted $25.4 billion in direct investment in the 10 years since its launch in 2014, created 192,000 jobs for locals, generated 6,000MW of electricity, gave 510 kilometres of highways and expanded the national transmission network by 886 kilometres.
The CPEC projects were originally valued at $46 billion which increased to $53 billion, their value rose to $62 billion in 2020 and by 2022 China’s approved financing for projects in Pakistan jumped to $65 billion. We have been emphasizing in these columns, time and again, that the Chinese collaboration enabled Pakistan to initiate and envisage plans and projects in areas, which the country could not undertake for decades due to lack of resources. The network of international standard roads connecting erstwhile inaccessible regions and speedy completion of power projects have created economic opportunities in different parts of the country and mitigated woes of the power consumers. The completion of the Gwadar project would help realize the dream of making the port a hub of regional trade and investment while establishment of special economic zones would contribute to the cause of industrialization. The upgrading of ML-I and cooperation in science and technology as well as agriculture would go a long way in fostering growth and development. More importantly, China has expressed its readiness to partner with Pakistan to enhance the development of CPEC, following important agreements between the leaders of both countries which aims to promote high-quality development, benefiting China, Pakistan, the region and all the nations involved. One hopes the Government coming into power after next elections would strive hard to exploit the full potential of cooperation with China under the framework of CPEC because of its demonstrated capability to accelerate the pace of progress in the country.
