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PAKISTAN-BUSINESS-ECONOMIC-LANDSCAPE
Economic corridor changes Pakistan’s business, economic landscape
ISLAMABAD, June 8, 2018 (BSS/Xinhua) – Five years after its launch, the
China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has achieved magnificent results that
help lay a solid infrastructure foundation for Pakistan’s economic
development.
Under the long-term and systematic framework of CPEC, several projects in
areas of energy, transportation infrastructure and port construction have
been completed.
The unprecedented CPEC projects are changing Pakistan’s business and
economic landscape and facilitating them with basic requirements, which has
helped the country improve its international credibility and increase its
economic growth rate to 5.8 percent in the fiscal 2018 from the previous
year’s 3.8 percent, according to official figures.
Former Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, who recently concluded his
tenure, said last month that CPEC and cooperation with China have helped
Pakistan emerge as a rising economy in the world.
The project under CPEC would accelerate economic development and further
link Pakistan with China, Central Asia and other parts of the world, said
Abbasi.
A couple of years ago, Pakistan was facing severe power shortage with a
power cut of up to 20 hours a day. The unsolved power crises prevailing for
years was causing an unrest among the public and casting negative effects on
the country’s industries and other economic activities.
Pakistan’s Ministry of Energy said that the completed CPEC power projects
have brought a great change in the energy sector by bringing the power cut
hours to zero form 12-14 hours a day in 70 percent of the country.
Two coal-fired power projects equipped with the latest state-of-the-art
environment-friendly technology — the 1,320-megawatt Sahiwal coal-fired
power project in the country’s Punjab and the Port Qasim coal-fired power
plant with the same capacity in southern port city Karachi — have already
started production.
The two projects are expected to generate 18 billion KWh of electricity
together annually, which can cater for the needs of eight million local
families.
The CPEC power projects not only have eased daily lives of Pakistanis but
are also creating hundreds of thousands of jobs by helping restart the
industries that were closed due to power shortage.
Besides the coal-fired power plants, CPEC also provides new energy to
Pakistan so as to diversify the country’s energy sources to maintain its
energy security. Part of the Quaid-e-Azam Solar Park is functional and three
wind power farms are also supplying electricity in southern Sindh province,
while two such projects will also start their commercial operations later
this year.
Pakistan’s Ministry of Planning, Development and Reforms said that energy
projects under CPEC will double the energy-thirsty country’s current capacity
of electricity production after their completion.
Yasir Rehman, an anchor from the official Pakistan Television, said that
the developed infrastructure under CPEC is bringing stimulus to the Pakistani
economy, creating jobs and improving business by starting a constructive
process.
“Uninterrupted power supply is helping industries increase production,
creating an ideal atmosphere for Pakistan’s economy,” said Rehman, adding
that with the functionalized Gwadar port, CPEC will benefit every common
Pakistani.
Gwadar, the ending point of CPEC, which was once an ignored small sluggish
fishing town located at the Arabian Sea in Pakistan’s southwest Balochistan
Province, is now witnessing a wave of development projects which are creating
new opportunities for employment and business.
Gwadar port, with the fully functional port terminal, regular cargo
service, free zone, business center, is a symbol of future development and
prosperity of Pakistan.
According to China Overseas Ports Holding Company (COPHC), the port’s
operator, some 20 companies in different businesses have already joined the
Gwadar free zone with direct investment of 3 billion Chinese yuan (over 460
million U.S. dollars).
Gwadar’s local people are feeling the development impetus triggered by the
rapidly developing port, construction of new roads, establishment and
upgrading of educational institutions and hospitals, construction of a new
international airport and installation of water purification plants.
Thousands of people, from laborers to businessmen, have migrated from
across the country to Gwadar to grab emerging opportunities for business and
employment since the launch of CPEC.
In the meantime, CPEC has also brought major improvements and overhauls to
Pakistan’s transportation infrastructure by upgrading and reconstructing
already existing roads and building new superhighways.
Several transportation projects under CPEC are forming a road network in
the country to improve Pakistan’s internal connectivity as well as with the
rest of the world.
On May 26, Abbasi inaugurated the first section of the 392-km Multan-
Sukkur Motorway, the largest transportation infrastructure project under the
CPEC in Multan of Punjab.
The motorway is expected to cut the travel time between Multan and Sukkur
from 10 hours to four hours at the maximum designed speed of 120 km per hour.
It will also facilitate traveling in areas located alongside it.
Mumtaz Hussain, a local farmer, told Xinhua that the CPEC motorway had
given a new hope of prosperity to his family because now they can easily
travel to cities to sell their vegetables at a better rate.
The motorway is a symbol of close cooperation between Pakistan and China,
said Abbasi, adding that CPEC is the implementation of Chinese vision of
connectivity and opening up under the Belt and Road Initiative that is
bringing great economic opportunities to Pakistan and the region.
According to Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Yao Jing, Chinese companies
under CPEC projects have provided over 100,000 jobs to local people and have
helped to uplift their living standards through social welfare works,
including restoring and establishing schools and technical training centers,
providing health facilities, and sending hundreds of youngsters to China for
further study.
Former Minister for Planning, Development and Reform Ahsan Iqbal hailed
CPEC as it has brought actual positive changes in the lives of millions of
Pakistanis.
“CPEC is a national agenda and has been put into implementation in record
time due to the solid commitment of both Pakistani and Chinese leadership,”
said Iqbal.
BSS/XINHUA/HR1450