“We are very hopeful that this year is going to bring the momentum back to pre-Covid level as more delegations from Pakistan are coming to China for face-to-face meetings following China’s relaxation on Covid-related restrictions”, Pakistani Ambassador to China Moin ul Haque told China Economic Net (CEN) in an interview. “This year is very special as it marks the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative. Pakistan is one of the pioneers of BRI. In the past decade, CPEC has transformed our economic landscape”, he added. According to research by KTrade, a securities broker and think tank in Pakistan, CPEC energy projects have become growth drivers for Pakistan.

After the addition of 9,740MW in capacity by CPEC, the access of the Pakistani population to electricity rose by 3.8 ppts in just 4 years to 75.4% in 2020, whereas in the 18 years from 1998 to 2016, the percentage of the population in Pakistan with access to electricity increased by only 1.1 ppts from 70.5% to 71.6%. Pakistan’s generation capacity increased at a 14-yr CAGR of 2.7% pre-CPEC and 9-yr CAGR of 7.0% post-CPEC.  In terms of transport infrastructure, CPEC has contributed 809km out of the 2,790km operational motorways in Pakistan, and further 813km is under construction, linking different parts of the country to the main ports and enhancing its cross border connectivity.   

In the future, 68% of Pakistan’s motorways will come from CPEC. According to Pakistan's Commercial Counsellor to China Mr. Ghulam Qadir, looking ahead, trade, investment, and industrial cooperation hold the key for Pakistan and China. “In Gwadar, 46 enterprises have been registered in the Free Zone while 3 companies have started production”, he said. He told CEN that the Ministry of Commerce in Pakistan and China have agreed to launch a joint study to enhance bilateral trade, economic, and investment cooperation.  Following the eligibility of Pakistani cherries to be exported to China, Pakistan is finalizing the protocol with China on beef export, which is a huge market worth over $10 billion. 

“Other than agriculture, we also hope to add value to the base metals that are being produced in Pakistan. For example, we are exporting copper to China, but we want to export copper products, such as copper cathodes, wires, bars, rods, etc.”, he added.   “We aim to enable Pakistan to become a hub of Chinese manufacturing. There's a huge gap in productivity between Pakistan and China, especially in agriculture and food processing. With Chinese technology, we can fill that gap”, he further added. 

Credit : Independent News Pakistan-INP