BEIJING: Pakistan Ambassador to China Moin ul Haque on Saturday termed the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) a crucial project, providing tangible benefits to Pakistan through its flagship project China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
Addressing as a key speaker at the 13th China Overseas Investment Fair, Moin ul Haque mentioned that BRI holds great significance for Belt and Road Initiative’s partner countries. This year, Pakistan is celebrating the 10th anniversary of CPEC.
The envoy mentioned that during the last 10 years, 888 km of the road network has been laid, and over 8000 additional MWs of energy have been added to the country with the commissioning of 13 new energy projects. He added that a new 878-KM transmission line had been built to evacuate 4000MW electricity. An 820 km long cross-border optical fiber cable has been in place, and over 200,000 new jobs have been processed. Various estimates have pointed out to an increase in 1-2% of the GDP of Pakistan”, he added.
The Ambassador further expressed that BRI remained successful in bringing down the suspicions, claims, and doubts among the members of the international community and instead connected them with bridges of cultural, commerce, and trade cooperation on the principles of win-win support and mutual benefit. It thus transcends the artificial divides of religion, race, and nationality and rallies the international community around shared dreams and common ideals.
CPEC Flagship Project for Pakistan
“CPEC was envisaged as a comprehensive and long-term project with significant to upgrade transport and communication infrastructure, ensure energy security, boost connectivity, modernize agriculture, promote industrialization and thus contribute to national socio-economic development agenda”.
The envoy added that CPEC has now entered its crucial phase of facilitating the industrialization process in Pakistan. The Special Economic Zones (SEZs) under CPEC have the capacity to be a game-changer not only for Pakistan but for the entire region. With attractive incentives, these SEZs would be the mainstay of FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) in Pakistan. Gwadar Port with its infrastructure upgrade and strategic location augments these SEZs, and would be helpful to take Pakistan into an attractive investment and tourism destination, the ambassador added.
