Beijing
China promoted “Smiling Face Model” investment in Pakistan at recently held the 11th China Overseas Investment Fair (COIFair), repledging it’s commitment to strengthen their socio-economic partnership.
According to China Economic Net, the construction of “smiling face model” is no longer limited to traditional single project cooperation but is aimed at implementing the principle of achieving shared growth through discussion and collaboration with focus on the sustainable development.
The new business model will be formed based on that layout and the whole industry chain of infrastructures fostered by the innovation of the value chain.
The “Smiling Face Model” deeply integrates infrastructure projects with regional economic development.
It helps make regional resource allocation and factor mobility more economical, which in turn stimulates trade and investment, connects industries, accelerates development and therefore enables industrial development, increases employment and tax revenue, improves government financial capacity.
The “smiling face model” is in Port-Industry-City (PIC) structure or Port-Logistics-City (PLC) structure with typical ternary characteristics.
One “eye” of the model represents harbors, zones, and cities, in which the way how projects are combined follows the integration of ports and industrial cities or the integration of coastal zones and industrial cities; the other “eye” is land ports, logistics zones, and cities that combine as the integration of land ports and industrial cities or inland logistics center and industrial cities.
The connection between the two “eyes” forms a curve looking like a smiling mouth, which represents roads, railways, and other whole industry chain projects in transportation infrastructure. Overall, the investment layout forms “a smiling face”.
Taking China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) as an example. The south end is featured by the construction of Pakistan’s seaports, which acts as a basis for promoting the development of free trade zones and mutually beneficial cooperation between China and Pakistan, and building a diversified modern port city of Gwadar; the north end is featured by the construction of Kashgar international land port to transform Kashgar into a world-class logistics, financial and trade center in Western China, form Kashgar-centered city circle, and enable the important role of Xinjiang on the Silk Road Economic Belt.
The “smiling face” reflects that CPEC, under the framework of Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), brings down-to-earth benefits to people in Pakistan.
Rashakai Special Economic Zone, at the intersection of the east, central and west lines of the CPEC, is a priority start-up project of the combination of industries and zones under CPEC and will play a leading role in China-Pakistan production capacity cooperation.
According to the plan, the total area of Rashakai SEZ is 406.74 hectares and the total investment is expected to be nearly 130 million US dollars. The project will be developed in three phases. —INP
