Report by Engineering Post
China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has quite successfully transitioned into its second phase which was focused on deeper economic cooperation between China and Pakistan, expanding beyond infrastructure development to areas such as industrial cooperation, science and information technologies , agriculture and social sectors development. This second phase aimed to enhance the economic benefits and promote sustainable development in different sectors.
The CPEC as such prioritize s connectivity of infrastructure.” three corridors (Eastern, Western and Central), have multitier and multidimensional infrastructure network was taking shape. Basic connectivity over land, air, optical fiber and maritime was in already in place and laying deeper cooperation for CPEC Phase-11.
In the Transport Infrastructure sector, quite remarkable progress has already been made with the completion of Eastbay Expressway (19 km) in Gwadar and Khuzdar-Basima (106 km) road in Balochistan. These projects quite appreciably have improved inter-land connectivity of Gwadar Port. On the Western alignment, construction work on 298 kilometers Zhob to Kuchlak, Nokundi-Mashkel (103 m), Hoshab-Awaran M8 (146 km) and Awaran-Naal (168 km) was under implementation and progress well according to schedule for the completion of these infrastructure projects.
Due to the construction of Dasu and Basha Dams, the existing Karakoram highway (KKH) was likely to be submerged thus necessitating the need for realignment of Thakot-Raikot Section of KKH. The feasibility for Realignment of Thakot-Raikot Section of KKH has since been conducted and PC-I for the project was in its final stages.
Moreover, the Concessional Agreement for landmark ML- 1 (Railways Mainline from Karachi to Peshawar rehabilitation and upgradation) was in the final stages and a Chinese delegation was likely to visit Pakistan within these days to finalize the financing of the mega project jointly by China and Pakistan in agreeable ratio.
