ISLAMABAD, August 17 (lNP): Industrial development under CPEC is much more beneficial in creating jobs in Pakistan, Gwadar Pro reported on Saturday quoting recent Labor Force Survey (LFS) published by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).

Industrialization in Special Economic Zones (SEZs) is targeted at creating around 475,000 direct and 1 million indirect jobs across the country.

The majority of the new jobs during last three years has been created in the industrial sector.

The survey findings revealed that Pakistan’s economy created total of 5.5 million jobs during the past three years –on an average 1.84 million jobs a year, which is far higher than yearly average of creation of new jobs during the 2008-18 decade.

Out of 5.5 million, 2.5 million jobs were created in the industrial sector. Another 1.4 million jobs were created in the agriculture sector and around 1.7 million in the services sector, the PBS report added.

Experts believe that China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has also played an important role in the development of Industrial sector of Pakistan by resolving energy crisis and providing more direct and indirect jobs.

Pakistan was facing two vital issues in recent times: one is the energy crisis and the other is the lack of industrial capabilities.

Before the commercial operation of a number of energy projects under CPEC, Pakistan was suffering probably its most severe power crisis, with 12-18 hours of load shedding a day, interrupting industrial production.

Therefore, CPEC is helpful in resolving both issues. More energy projects started under CPEC helped boost industrialization in the country.

According to officials of Ministry of Planning and Development, the survey findings were endorsed by a technical committee, comprising official and independent experts.

PBS covered 6,808 enumeration blocks and 99,904 households for survey purposes.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan-INP