Engineering Post Report
The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is a long term program between China and Pakistan. It aims to act as a “Gateway of Prosperity ” for both the countries and the region at large. The CPEC is focused to facilitate industrialization, trade and market access, integration with global value chains, socio-economic development and poverty alleviation, agriculture modernization, Gwadar Oil City and blue economy, regional connectivity, and third -party participation. Moreover, the focus has since been extended to also include cooperation in Science and Information Technology in the overall CPEC framework.
The CPEC would connect Gwadar port in the southwest of Pakistan to China’s northwestern region of Xinjiang via a network of highways and railways, covering the entire country from North to South through three different alignments: Eastern, Western and Central alignments. Road infrastructure on the Eastern Alignment is complete except the Sukkur-Hyderabad section which was under construction. On the Western Alignment, Dera Ismail Khan-Zhob road has been conceived. The remaining projects on the alignment have either been completed or at varying stages of their implementation. The Central Alignment was expected to start in the third phase of CPEC.
In the first phase of the implementation of CPEC, priority was given to development prerequisites of CPEC to initiate economic activities. Investments under CPEC in infrastructure and energy sectors, through the implementation of early harvest projects, have filled in the voids and accelerated the pace of economic growth of the country which will ultimately provide a momentous boost to the economy of Pakistan.
In order to realize the vision of CPEC in letter and spirit, CPEC now emphasizes areas which contribute to the socio-economic uplift of the people of Pakistan. Industrialization and Agriculture Modernization are the preferred areas to bing employment, enhance trade and earn foreign exchange. Science and Technology cooperation has also been designed with an emphasis on technology up-gradation and transfer to support the development process under CPEC.
More about CPEC performance review during 2022-23 and outlook for the financial year 2023-24 will be submitted in the subsequent months, please.
