CPEC offers vast opportunities for capacity cooperation

Pakistan is one of the earliest countries responding to the Belt and Road Initiative and great progress has been made in construction of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), the Economic Daily reports.

The initiative is expected to bring great opportunities for Pakistan in boosting its economic development as energy and transport infrastructure projects along the economic corridor are underway and industrial parks will be set up in the future. 

Ahsan Iqbal,Minister for Planning and Development, said in an earlier speech that the economic corridor provided a once-in-a-century development opportunity for Pakistan and its success will make national economic development irresistible.

Rizwanul Hassan, a researcher at Mohammad Ali Jinnah University, said Pakistan has huge development potential, because of its natural resources, labor resources and market scale. 

However, until now, the potential has not been transformed to growth because of poor railway transport capacity and power shortages. This would be remedied by investment in the corridor.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has said the economic corridor will benefit not only China and Pakistan, but the whole region. He has invited leaders from Central Asia to take part in the construction of the corridor several times since the second half of 2015.

Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry, former foreign secretary of Pakistan, said high-level logistics infrastructure helps stimulate investment and growth. 

Pakistan, as the shortest land access to the Arabian Sea from Central Asia, hopes to become a regional hub and build Gwadar Port into the next Dubai. The economic corridor can make the dream of Pakistan development really come true. 

According to the Pakistan government's plan, dozens of industrial parks will be built along the economic corridor to expand industrial capacity cooperation between the two countries.These industrial parks will create many jobs, improve Pakistan's export performance and become an important factor boosting sustainable economic development.