CPEC Leads Pakistan On Road Of Development, Stability: Chinese Scholar

Over the past five years, China and Pakistan have worked together to build the economic corridor, which has led Pakistan on the road of development and stability.

BEIJING, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 13th Dec, 2018 ) :Over the past five years, China and Pakistan have worked together to build the economic corridor, which has led Pakistan on the road of development and stability.

At the same time, it is a preliminary demonstration of Pakistan's bright future to the whole world. Pakistan is located in the key position of the "crossroads" of South Asia, West Asia and Central Asia. Since ancient times, the two continents of Europe and Asia have got interactions all through Pakistan, Cheng Xizhong, a senior fellow of Chahar Institute said on Thursday.

Cheng, who represented his country as Defence Attach� in Pakistan, gave a few proposals about how the construction of CPEC, a flagship project of China's Belt and Road Initiative could further lead Pakistan on the road of development and stability.

There is need to fully understand the strategic significance of the economic corridor construction as it is a major project jointly constructed by China and Pakistan, as well as a cooperative project between the two all-weather friends, he said in an interview.

He said most of the 22 major projects under the framework of the economic corridor are electric power and transportation infrastructure. The completion and operation of these projects are crucial for Pakistan's future socio-economic development.

The electricity is the heart of the country, and transportation infrastructure is the artery of the country. Only with enough electricity and more developed transportation infrastructure, could the development of the country be vigorous, and could Pakistan maintain a high rate of economic growth, he added.

Cheng also proposed that Pakistan should gradually build up self-reliance ability and highly appreciate Prime Minister Imran Khan's emphasis on improving people's livelihood and a series of measures taken.

However, he pointed out that the construction of the economic corridor, including electric power and transportation infrastructure, is the biggest livelihood project and is conducive to solving the fundamental problems of people's livelihood.

Cheng observed that Pakistan is facing many difficulties and there is a need to get to the root of the problems. Hospitals, schools and other daily livelihood problems can be solved step by step with the mobilization of the financial resources of the local government and the people.

The senior fellow said the strength and position of the country should be enhanced through industrialization. Driven by the construction of the economic corridor, Pakistan will gradually have the conditions to develop large-scale industries and promote the development of modern service industries.

The industry in the country is underdeveloped and many daily necessities are imported in large quantities, while the main export is agricultural products. Therefore, industrialization and modernization of the country should be gradually realized so as to continuously strengthen Pakistan's regional strength.

He said the strengthening of Pakistan's power position is also conducive to breaking the regional unipolar pattern, establishing regional power balance and maintaining regional peace and stability.

The CPEC has the value of the strategic investment and firmly believed that, with the construction of the corridor, sooner or later, Pakistan will enter the track of rapid development, achieve economic rising and become an emerging market country.

He pointed out that recently, Saudi Arabia has decided to invest in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and some South Korean companies have also expressed their intention to invest in the corridor and hoped more countries will participate in the construction of this corridor.

This shows that more and more countries have realized that the CPEC has strategic investment value. Therefore, the Pakistani government should make further efforts to continuously improve the policy and security environment for external investment in Pakistan.