16 December 2024, Islamabad (Kamran Raja): Deputy Chief of Mission, China Embassy, Shi Yuanqiang on Monday said China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) had transformed Pakistan, making it an attractive destination for direct investment. He was speaking at a seminar titled ’10 Years of CPEC: Success, Opportunities and Challenges’ organised by Asian Institute of Eco-civilization Research and Development (AIERD).
Shi Yuanqiang said over the last 11 years, CPEC had brought $25 billion in direct investment, and now it had entered a new phase of development.
He said industrial cooperation is another promising area, adding that the first phase of the Rashakai Special Economic Zone had been in operation, generating strong momentum into Pakistan’s industrial development.
Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) Secretary Jamil Qureshi said 10 years ago, the monumental CPEC project began as a vision and today it had become a reality and had already started to reshape the economic landscape of Pakistan and the broader region.
He said CPEC is not a collection of infrastructure projects, it is a vision for Pakistan’s future – a future where industries thrive, where employment opportunities are abundant, where technology is at the forefront of growth and where economic relations reach new heights. He said CPEC’s diverse portfolio, spanning energy, roads, railways and technology had empowered the next generation of Pakistanis providing them with the tools and opportunities they need to thrive.
He said the key to unlocking the full potential of CPEC lies in creating a thriving industrial ecosystem and special economic zones.
“We are pleased to witness the progress and the development of Rashakai SEZ in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Dhabeji SEZ in Sindh, M3 Allama Iqbal in Punjab and Bostan SEZ in Balochistan as they are all in the advance stages of development,” he added.
He said looking ahead, the second phase of CPEC focused on industrial cooperation and socioeconomic development, which will be a game changer for Pakistan, adding that the second phase demands a shift towards a greater private sector engagement.
Mr Qureshi said the government’s role had now evolved to that of a facilitator, to create the necessary policy frameworks, provide security infrastructure and incentive for supporting industrial growth and a conducive business environment. He said the government established the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) to foster horizontal and vertical collaboration for investment and business facilitation.
AIERD Chairman Zahid Latif Khan said over the past decade, CPEC had become a cornerstone of the regional connectivity and economic cooperation serving as the flagship initiative under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
“This historic collaboration has gone beyond infrastructures; it represents the vision of shared prosperity, integration and mutual progress of China and Pakistan and the broader region,” he said.
Speaking about capital market development, Zahid Latif Khan said that in 2016 the three stock exchanges of China had taken 40pc stake at Pakistan Stock Exchange. “Recently our chief minister of Punjab visited China, but a day before yesterday a very high-powered delegation under the leadership of chairman Security Exchange Commission of Pakistan and managing director of Pakistan Stock Exchange also went to China to collaborate more on capital market development, which is very dynamic in China,” Mr Khan said.
He said CPEC presented a unique opportunity to deepen Pakistan’s financial market by introducing innovative financial instruments such as CPEC bonds and Islamic Sukuk, providing avenues for both local and international investors to participate in these projects.
Yu Chao from PowerChina said today we celebrate not only the success of the last decade but also the spirit of cooperation and mutual respect.
He said CPEC is not just an infrastructure initiative, it is also a symbol of deepening ties between the two countries one that aims to bring long-lasting prosperity of the whole region.
RCCI President Usman Shaukat said we need to enhance the potential of the projects. He said Gwadar International Airport would bring more connectivity to people of different regions with Gwadar. “But, we also need to work on more linkages between the industries of Pakistan and China,” he added. He said there was still a lot of potential when it comes to the API industry (Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients). “Pakistan does not manufacture any of those and we are completely reliant on the imported sources for the raw material,” he said, adding that the APIs are something that the pharmaceutical industry absolutely needs to move forward. He said since China is the leader in the API industry, we can have a lot of projects under CPEC to bring the technology transferred to Pakistan.
Retired Maj Gen Samrez Salik said CPEC is an essential segment of the BRI. He said as far as Pakistan is concerned, we were the frontline state in the 20th century geopolitics, which had played havoc.
Speaking on the topic CPEC and Gender, Nabila Jaffar said we cannot call CPEC a game-changer without the active and effective participation of women in these initiatives. She said CPEC projects are empowering women in remote areas. For example in Thar area, women are not skilled and cannot find any employment opportunities, she said, adding that when Thar coalmine power project was started, women were integrated in this project where they benefited economically. Similarly, there is the technical and vocational institute in Gwadar where women have been engaged in different kinds of projects in which they can showcase their talent and they can make that opportunity as a source of livelihood, Ms Jaffar said.
Replying to Nabila Jaffar, scholar Hassan Daud Butt said CPEC is one of the only projects to happen in Pakistan where we have worked on in a Hindu majority region in Thar and where women participation is happening perhaps more than in any other region.
He said there was a need to understand the larger economic aspect of how CPEC can help industrial development or industrial policy.
“What we need to understand is that every developing country can grow dynamically and become a middle income country or high income country in one or three decades, and China is an example.
He said he believed profit expectation and policy continuity are the primary concern of investment mobilization. Hamza Orakzai, CMDO STZA, said special economic zones were one of the five economic pillars. He said in the past eight years, Pakistan’s GDP has been growing at merely 3.9 per cent, but if you look at IT, it is growing at 25 per cent. “We have grown from $900 million export in IT in 2018 to $3.2 billion last year, and we are expecting $3.8 billion. Unfortunately, 50 per cent of this goes to US, around 30 per cent to Europe and the Middle East and hardly 5 per cent goes to China,” he said. Mr Orakzai said China is one of the leaders in global technological innovations and we can utilise Pakistani talent in this regard. Journalist Aun Sahi said in Pakistan, media followed the philosophy of the West, but when it comes to China, they have a totally different kind of philosophy about media. He said in the initial stages of CPEC, there was no planning on how to tackle media. Media was unable to find the focal person whether in the Planning Commission or the Chinese embassy who could educate them about CPEC and its projects.