ISLAMABAD: Information and Broadcasting Minister Senator Shibli Faraz on Wednesday said that the پاکستان 60 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) development project has reshaped the geo-economic situation. And this was not a game changer. Not just for Pakistan but for the whole region.
Addressing the National Seminar on “CPEC: Challenges and Opportunities” here as a special guest, he said that promotion of CPEC is in the best interest of Pakistan as it is a win-win situation for both the countries.
It is important to counter the negative propaganda aimed at the success of the project and the damage done to bilateral relations, he said, adding that adding the benefits of CPEC would go to the grassroots and benefit the population of Pakistan.
He said the road infrastructure projects are estimated to create 51,000 jobs, of which more than 94 per cent will be exclusively for Pakistanis.
He said that the joint venture between Pakistan and China would create an estimated 1.2 million jobs, of which more than 33% would be exclusively for Pakistani citizens.
A total of 2.3 million jobs are expected to be created (2015-2030), GDP grew by more than 2.5% annually, he said.
The Minister said that a culture of connectivity, economic interdependence and co-operation, which would form part of the BRI and its CPEC, would lead to peace and harmony in the entire region. It will also go a long way in promoting cultural and political unity. .
The project includes roads, railways, ports, oil and gas pipelines, fiber optic connectivity, special economic zones (SEZs), cross-border trade and cooperation centers, and free trade agreements, he said.
He said that BRI aims at better economic connectivity for the prosperous future of about 63% of the world’s population from 65 countries in Southeast Asia, South Asia, Central and West Asia, the Middle East, Europe and Africa. Belongs to
Under the project, Gwadar is set to become a hub for Chinese economic ties with the Middle East and North Africa, he said. Shibli Faraz said that the main initiatives of CPEC include 2700 km long road network from Gwadar Port to Khanjrab through the Karakoram Mountains of Gilgit-Baltistan, overpass of KKH from Hassan Abdal / Punjab to Chinese border / Khanjrab, 1100 Includes kilometer long construction work. – Long Karachi-Karachi Motorway, 1687 km long LL-1 railway line upgrade, 10,000 MW power generation project, Gwadar Nawabshah pipeline for gas supply from Iran $ 2.5 billion.
He said it was estimated that the CPEC would generate سے 6 billion to میں 8 billion a year in taxes on roads and bridges.
He said that despite the misleading propaganda by a section of the Western and Indian media, there was a cursory glance at the facts that the Chinese under CPEC were trying to increase their economic and political influence in the region Align loans and investments with China’s debt network.
The Minister said that China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has made significant progress in its first phase (2015-2020).
Most of the projects in the transport infrastructure and energy sectors have been successfully completed and many are in the implementation phase. Plans are now underway to launch the second phase (2021-2025) with a focus on industrialization, modernization of agriculture and socio-economic development.
He said that the aim was to achieve the return on investment in the first phase which has created a conducive environment for investment in other sectors as existing voices in infrastructure and energy have been filled. Is.
The Minister said that the development of Special Economic Zones (SEZs) in Rashaki (KPK), Allama Iqbal Industrial City (Punjab) and Dhabeji (Sindh) is on the priority list and work on them will start this year. ۔ In addition, the strategic projects of 1124 MW Kohala HPP and Main Line One 1 (ML-1) have been pushed to the second phase and significant progress has been made on the planning front.
The Minister said that ML-1 would work as an anchor project which would further develop the logistics industry in Pakistan. The two countries are opening up other avenues for cooperation in the long-term plan (2015-2020) 30 to further deepen cooperation between China and Pakistan.
He said that joint working groups of agriculture and science and technology are being set up in the year 2020 which will include the existing JWG in the fields of energy, infrastructure, industrial cooperation etc. Improving the country’s economic competitiveness with existing and newly established areas will ultimately increase Pakistan’s capacity.
Shibli Faraz thanked the Pakistani media for which he said that CPEC has played an important role in eradicating anti-propaganda and also in promoting the concept of national ownership of the project. ۔
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