Zubair Qureshi Islamabad
Federal Minister for Planning, Development & Special Initiatives Prof Ahsan Iqbal on Friday heaped praise on the Chinese government for showing understanding of the economic turmoil Pakistan was faced with recently and for rolling over loans worth billions of dollars.
China is our all-weather friend and moved to support Pakistan at a time when no country was willing to invest here. We are thankful to the Chinese leadership that despite an orchestrated propaganda and negative campaign against the China Pakistan Economic Corridor during the previous government’s period, it patiently waited till the situation turned favourable and the project is now back on track with full speed and capacity.
Ahsan Iqbal expressed these views while addressing an international seminar titled ‘CPEC—The Road to Prosperity & Growth Amidst Challenges’ jointly organized by the Pak China Study & Research Centre of Bahria University and the National Institute of Maritime Affairs with support and partnership of HBL and Pakistan Observer.
Acting Ambassador of China Ms Pang Chunxue graced the seminar as Guest of Honour and delivered a keynote address on the occasion.
Rector of Bahria University, Vice Admiral (R) Asif Khaliq, Director General, NIMA Vice Admiral (R) Ahmed Saeed, former Ambassador of Pakistan to China Masood Khalid, CEO & President of Habib Bank Ltd Muhammad Aurangzeb and Editor-in-Chief of Pakistan Observer Mr Faisal Zahid Malik also addressed the event.
A message of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was also read out on the occasion commending the efforts of BU and NIMA for organizing the seminar on an important subject. Pakistan’s Ambassador to China Moin-ul-Haq also addressed the seminar via video-link.
Ahsan Iqbal was of the view that the seminar was taking place at an historic occasion as recently, both Pakistan and China celebrated 10th anniversary (July 5, 2013) of the first Memorandum of Understanding signed on the CPEC which is the flagship project of the Belt & Road Initiative (BRI).
CPEC, he said, with an investment of over US $46 billion brought promise of economic prosperity, peace and stability for Pakistan at a time when investment was a far cry and the country was passing through the worst financial challenges.
Ahsan Iqbal recounted that President Xi Jinping visited Pakistan in April 2015 on the invitation of the then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and both the countries formally unveiled the multi-billion dollars project.
China’s decision to select Pakistan for investment catapulted the world’s conventional opinion about Pakistan and there was a beeline of international investors, foreign mission and multinational companies seeking to partner in this multi billion project, he said.
However, Ahsan Iqbal regretted the change of government in 2018 proved detrimental and the projects that were going at a fast pace and were near completion came to a sudden halt.
However, history has now bestowed us with another chance and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s government after taking charge resumed the stalled work and now the CPEC is about to enter its second phase i.e. business-to-business cooperation, said Ahsan Iqbal who is leaving for China on Saturday (today) to discuss the second phase of the project. He also paid compliments to Charge d’Affaires Acting Ambassador Ms Pang Chunxue for vocally advocating the CPEC on all forums.
CPEC he said would not only address our energy crisis, it would also bring industrial growth. The other two equally important components are logistic development (of over 3,000km roads and connectivity network) and Gwadar Port which is already in operational stage.
Acting Ambassador of China Ms Pang Chunxue while appreciating the BU and NIMA for inviting her said CPEC was a landmark project of Belt and Road Initiative. “This year marks the 10th anniversary of the launch of CPEC. Over the past ten years, under the guidance of the leaders of our two countries, CPEC has made outstanding contributions to Pakistan’s economic and social development. Its great achievements have attracted worldwide attention,” she said.
In April 2015, President Xi visited Pakistan and the two sides agreed to promote a “1+4” pattern of economic cooperation featuring a leading role of the CPEC and four key areas including the Gwadar Port, Energy, Transportation Infrastructure and Industrial Cooperation.
Since then, the large-scale construction of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor has been accelerated, said she adding, up to now the building of CPEC has achieved many fruitful results in all four aspects and has expanded to a total of 11 working groups as entering the second phase of high-quality development. CPEC has become an important platform for all-round cooperation between China and Pakistan.
With the joint efforts of China and Pakistan and the support of the Navy and the Ministry of Planning etc., the construction of Gwadar Port has made tremendous progress, said the acting ambassador adding, the Gwadar Port has achieved full operational capacity doing well in transit trade with Afghanistan.
“This year is a fruitful year for Gwadar Port and the New Gwadar International Airport, the Desalination Plant and the Pak-China Friendship Hospital will be completed one after another this year. Now with economic free zone booming and infrastructure completing, Gwadar is making steady progress towards the goal of a logistics hub and an industrial base, and will exert greater vitality in promoting regional economic development and connectivity, said she.
The year 2023 also marks the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative put forward by President Xi Jinping, said the Chinese acting ambassador. BRI cooperation has made positive contributions to economic development, employment, and improvement of people’s livelihood in all countries, and has become a popular international public goods and international cooperation platform.
Statistics show that 151 countries and 32 international organizations have joined the initiative. It has generated nearly a trillion U.S. dollars in investment, established over 3,000 cooperation projects, created 420 thousand jobs along the routes, and helped lift nearly 40 million people out of poverty, she concluded.
Editor-in-Chief of Pakistan Observer Faisal Zahid Malik said over the years, CPEC has emerged as a beacon of progress, regional connectivity, and economic cooperation between Pakistan and China.
It has laid the foundation for a comprehensive partnership that extends beyond mere infrastructure development, encompassing diverse sectors such as energy, industry, agriculture, and human resource development, he said.
CPEC’s achievements are a testament to the vision and unwavering commitment of both the Pakistani and Chinese governments, he said adding, through their strategic planning and concerted efforts, major milestones have been accomplished, including the successful completion of infrastructure projects, the establishment of economic zones, and the creation of thousands of jobs for our people.
Pakistan Observer, said Mr Faisal Zahid Malik, has always played a crucial role in strengthening Pakistan-China relations and highlighting the significance and benefits of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.
My late father, the esteemed late Mr. Zahid Malik (Sitara-i-Imtiaz), founder of the Pakistan Observer, recognized the need for greater efforts in consolidating and strengthening the Pak-China relations, said Faisal Zahid Malik.
Ambassador Masood Khalid was of the view that with Ahsan Iqbal at the helm of affairs, CPEC was in safe hands. CPEC when launched, back in 2015 was something beyond our expectation particularly in its scale and size, the ambassador admitted frankly.
The Chinese companies with the support and blessing of both the governments rolled out a huge cycle of economic activity and a floodgate of opportunities—jobs, construction of roads, power projects, hospitals, schools, industrial units, ets—was opened.
Unfortunately, that momentum was broken with the change of the government as doubts were created on the transparency of the project.
However, again our time-tested friend proved quite up to the mark and instead of pulling out remained steadfast in its commitment to Pakistan, said Ambassador Masood.
Rector BU Vice Admiral (R) Asif Khaliq and DG NIMA Vice Admiral (R) Ahmed Saeed held the CPEC as a game-changer project not only for Pakistan but for the whole region.
CEO of HBL Muhammad Aurangzeb said his bank was providing services to over 25,000 individual Chinese customers and more than 600 corporate clients.
