The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) should be made a role model for local, regional, and international cooperation. This was emphasized at the conference on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) 2022, which was organized by the Punjab Board of Investment and Trade (PBIT) and the Pakistan-China Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCJCCI).

According to Hiba Ali Gohar, Director of Media and Coordination for the PCJCCI, the PBIT organized the third meeting of the Punjab Investment Working Group to discuss "CPEC: achievements, challenges and the way forward" at the PCJCCI Secretariat. Prominent participants and experts from Pakistan and China on policy issues, industrial growth, legal framework, and regulatory reforms also took part in the discussion.

The speakers included Executive Director of Pakistan-China Institute Mr. Mustafa Syed, Senior Vice President of PCJCCI Mr. Ehsan Choudhry, Advocate of Supreme Court of Pakistan Ms. Asma Hamid, and Vice Chancellor of Punjab Tianjin University of Technology (PTUT) Dr. Abdul Sattar.

President of PCJCCI Mr. Wang Zihai welcomed the participants from both sides and said that to tap the opportunities for industrial cooperation under the second phase of CPEC, businesses from Punjab need to engage with their Chinese counterparts to form joint ventures and learn modern technologies. He went on to say that making CPEC a success and a model for neighborly, regional, and global collaboration is critical for Pakistan and China.

In his keynote address, Additional Secretary of ICI & SSD Mr. Rizwan Qadeer said that Pakistan's overall socio-economic growth has been greatly transformed by the immense opportunities for both Business to Business (B2B) and Government to Business (G2B) collaborations spanning across industries, livestock, agriculture, health, education, labour force training, connectivity via rail/road and fiber-optic.
CEO of TCL Ms. Sunny Yang informed the local and international participants on how CPEC has changed the general connection between China and Pakistan.

Hiba Ali Gohar added that during the session, concerned government entities and private sector stakeholders exchanged views on creating a strong enabling environment to attract industrial investments from China and other countries under the inclusive vision of CPEC.

During his vote of thanks, Mr. Ehsan Choudhry, Senior Vice President of PCJCCI, said that the CPEC has influenced various economic factors such as leadership quality, infrastructure quality, revenue generation, job opportunities, and technology gateway. It is expected that the CPEC projects will increase Pakistan's GDP by 2.5% while also creating nearly 2.3 million new jobs.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk