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Cpec Its Advantages and Impact To Pakistan

The document discusses the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project. CPEC is a $51 billion investment to build infrastructure like roads, railways and pipelines connecting China's Xinjiang province to Pakistan's Gwadar port. It will boost Pakistan's economy by creating jobs, improving infrastructure and energy supplies. CPEC could add 2-2.5% annual growth and help Pakistan industrialize. It benefits China by providing an alternative trade route. While CPEC faces political, economic and security threats, it has potential to transform Pakistan and strengthen China-Pakistan ties.

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Wasiq Karim
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289 views4 pages

Cpec Its Advantages and Impact To Pakistan

The document discusses the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project. CPEC is a $51 billion investment to build infrastructure like roads, railways and pipelines connecting China's Xinjiang province to Pakistan's Gwadar port. It will boost Pakistan's economy by creating jobs, improving infrastructure and energy supplies. CPEC could add 2-2.5% annual growth and help Pakistan industrialize. It benefits China by providing an alternative trade route. While CPEC faces political, economic and security threats, it has potential to transform Pakistan and strengthen China-Pakistan ties.

Uploaded by

Wasiq Karim
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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CPEC ITS ADVANTAGES AND IMPACT TO PAKISTAN

Introduction:
CPEC (China and Pakistan economic corridor) is an economic
corridor comprising a collection of projects currently under construction at a cost of $51
billion. CPEC aims to facilitate trade along an overland route that connects Kashgar and
Gwadar, through the construction of a network of highways, railways, and pipelines.

China stands to gain an alternative route for trade rather than the
South China sea, with shorter distance saving transport costs (distance will be reduced
by 9000 km) and less uncertainty and risk (Pakistan is allied with China) whereas in
South-east Asia China is in dispute with its neighbors. Pakistan serves as a crucial
bridge between China and Central Asia, South Asia, and the Middle East. The corridor
is intended to rapidly expand and upgrade Pakistani infrastructure, as well as deepen
and broaden economic links between Pakistan and the People's Republic of China. It is
considered to be an extension of China's ambitious One Belt, One Road initiative, and
the importance of CPEC to China is reflected by its inclusion as part of China's 13th
five-year development plan.

LIST OF COUNTRIES PARTICIPATING IN CPEC:

1. Afghanistan
2. Iran
3. Russia
4. Saudi Arabia
5. UK
6. Germany
7. France

ADVANTAGES:

1. JOBS EMPLOYMENT:

Pakistani officials predict that the project will result in


the creation of upwards of 700,000 direct jobs between 2015 – 2030, and add 2 to 2.5
percentage points to the country's annual economic growth. Were all the planned
projects to be implemented, the value of those projects would be equal to all foreign
direct investment in Pakistan since 1970, and would be equivalent to 17% of Pakistan's
2015 gross domestic product.
2. INFRASTRUCTURE:

Infrastructure projects under the aegis of CPEC will


span the length and breadth of Pakistan, and will eventually link the city of Gwadar in
southwestern Pakistan to China's northwestern autonomous region of Xinjiang via a
vast network of highways and railways. Proposed infrastructure projects are worth
approximately $11 billion, and will be financed by heavily-subsidized concessionary
loans that will be dispersed to the Government of Pakistan by the Exim Bank of China,
China Development Bank, and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China. As part of
the broad package of infrastructure projects under CPEC, a 1,100 kilometers long
motorway will be constructed between the cities of Karachi and Lahore, while the
Karakoram Highway between Rawalpindi and the Chinese border will be completely
reconstructed and overhauled. The Karachi–Peshawar main railway line will also be
upgraded to allow for train travel at up to 160 kilometers per hour by December 2019.
Pakistan's railway network will also be extended to eventually connect to China's
Southern Xinjiang Railway in Kashgar. A network of pipelines to transport liquefied
natural gas and oil will also be laid as part of the project, including a $2.5 billion pipeline
between Gwadar and Nawabshah to eventually transport gas from Iran.

3. Energy crisis:

Over $33 billion worth of energy infrastructure are to be


constructed by private consortia to help alleviate Pakistan's chronic energy shortages,
which regularly amount to over 4,500MW, and have shed an estimated 2–2.5% off
Pakistan's annual gross domestic product. Over 10,400MW of energy generating
capacity is to be developed between 2018 and 2020 as part of the corridor's fast-
tracked "Early Harvest" projects in conjunction with four projects under construction
prior to the announcement of CPEC .Electricity from these projects will primarily be
generated by coal, though wind projects are included under CPEC, as is the
construction of one of the world's largest solar energy plants.

Pakistan stands to gain due to upgrade of infrastructure on the


Lahore-Karachi railway helping to make exports more competitive in terms of travel time
and transport costs and the development of the Pakistan's road, air and port
infrastructure to transport goods and will remove the energy shortages which will lead to
complete industrialization of Pakistan's economy from the current semi-industrialized
economy, around 8000 Megawatts of energy will be generated.

4. SECURITY:

Pakistan Navy and Chinese Navy ships are to jointly guard the
safety and security of the trade corridor, as Pakistan seeks to expand the role of its
maritime forces. From December 2016, Pakistan's Navy established a special taskforce
"TF-88" to ensure there is maritime security for trade. Chairman Parliamentary
Committee on CPEC confirmed that Sindh will deploy 2000 police officers and Punjab
will deploy 5000 police officers and the army will deploy 12,000 troops to protect CPEC
land route.
In short China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) have got great
importance not only for China and Pakistan but for other countries including western
countries.
Few of them listed below.

1. Mechanical Cooperation
2. Industrial Cooperation
3. Agricultural Cooperation
4. Tourism
5. Educational sectors links
6. Increase in security of this region
7. People to people links

THREATS:

1. POLITICAL:

Political instability is the greatest impediment to any project


around the world and the CPEC is no exception. In September 2014, Chinese
President Xi Jinxing’s visit to Pakistan was cancelled in light of the sit-ins in
Islamabad led by Imran Khan’s Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) and Pakistan Awami
Tehreek (PAT). While the issue has been resolved between the government and
the PTI through a judicial commission and the PTI has played an appreciative
role in calling for national support for the CPEC, the danger has not eroded.

2. ECONOMIC:

As an economic enterprise, for the CPEC, the greatest challenge


comes from competitors. The most significant is the Iranian port of Chabahar. India
intends to invest significantly ($85 million) in the development of Chabahar, which lies a
few miles away from Gwadar and is part of its efforts for access to landlocked
Afghanistan and Central Asia while bypassing rival Pakistan. Chabahar will effectively
be a way station for energy imports coming from the Gulf region and destined for
Afghanistan and Central Asia. It will also be a gateway to the Middle East, and possibly
Europe, for exports originating from Afghanistan and Central Asia.

While the Chabahar project is not yet started due to ongoing talks on
the Iranian nuclear issue, the Gwadar port has already become functional. However
there is no need for contention between these two ports. Iran has a stake in the CPEC
through the proposal to link the Iran–Pakistan gas pipeline with China, which has been
described as a “common interest” between the three countries.

3. SECURITY:

Security concerns remain the most primary challenge to the CPEC as


yet. An arc of militancy stretches from Xinjiang to Gwadar consisting of groups like the
East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Lashkar-
e-Jhangvi (LEJ), Daesh (ISIS),Baluchistan Liberation Army (BLA), Baluchistan
Liberation Front (BLF) and militant wings of political parties. Most of these groups may
not have an enmity with China itself but rather intend to use attacks on Chinese
interests like the CPEC as a means to deal with the Pakistani state. There are also
indicators of foreign intelligence agencies engaged in espionage against the CPEC. In
fact, reports of formation of a specific desk to deal with the CPEC at the Research and
Analysis Wing (RAW) have been widely circulated.

CPEC – A Game-Changer:

The project has come as a gift for Pakistan and


given birth to countless future possibilities. A country that had been targeted by the
international media for being unsafe is now appraised as a budding economy.
Promising jobs and an unprecedented growth in the economy, CPEC is indeed a golden
opportunity for Pakistan to regain its geographical importance and attract foreign
investments

Conclusion:

In the past, Pakistan and China have engaged in a variety of difficult


projects that were thought impossible due to the constraints involved and still managed
to achieve success. The Karakorum Highway stands as a testament to the fact. Utilizing
firm political resolve, revolutionary insight and unyielding fortitude, both nations can
surmount the challenges and transform the CPEC from paper to reality in a short span
of time.

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