IN a welcome development, the Government on Tuesday announced that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s upcoming visit to China later this month will mark the formal launch of the second phase of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC-II), focused on industrial cooperation, after a delay of about five years.
Minister for Planning Prof. Ahsan Iqbal, who is focal person of the epoch-making project, said at a high level meeting that the future of CPEC “must be anchored in quality rather than quantity,” emphasizing that only carefully selected, high-impact projects should be advanced to ensure sustainability and institutional strengthening.
There is near-consensus in Pakistan that the multi-billion dollar projects initiated and completed under the banner of the CPEC have contributed immensely in upgrading the infrastructure and socio-economic development. With this in view, the logic demanded priority implementation of the second phase of the initiative but the progress was marred by several factors including lackluster response of the previous government, foreign propaganda and pressure, security issues and bureaucratic hurdles. In this backdrop, the announcement of the Planning Minister augurs well as the second phase focuses on industrial cooperation, agricultural development, cooperation in IT and regional connectivity, with Gwadar’s development and the establishment of Special Economic Zones (SEZs) being key components. This phase aims to create more jobs, enhance trade and further improve infrastructure, while also prioritizing green development and science and technology. The Minister has rightly emphasized the need for transparent utilization of the Chinese offer to provide ten thousand training opportunities; diversification and capacity-building for exports to capture meaningful share of China’s imports; and close engagement with the private sector, academia and research institutions in areas such as industrial cooperation, technology, agriculture, energy and human resource development. A coordinated approach by the federal and provincial governments as well as concerned ministries is a must for realization of these cherished goals.
