The much-trumpeted CPEC project, which is said to be a game changer for the entire region, has notched a plethora of issues and problems due to which its pace has suffered and almost in doldrums. After the floods, it has further suffered as the heavy rain that continued for months has swept away the roads and infrastructures and devastated the entire country due to which many CPEC projects have suffered disruption and hence a further delay. 

Though the Chinese companies are making hectic efforts to minimize the disruption but the delay cannot be ruled out. As a matter of fact, the CPEC project has already been facing snags and disruption due to slow pace work and there are various factors behind this including the economic melt-down of Pakistan. And now due to floods devastations across the country, many of the disaster-stricken sites where the projects are in progress cannot be reached and accessed, and the snags are there to disrupt the CPEC projects.   

In may be mentioned here that ion May this year, Pakistan's new Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari met with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Guangzhou and during discussion they had also discussed salvaging the CPEC project from delays. As a matter of fact, efforts are needed to reinvigorate this game-changer epic project which promises a lot of opportunities to Pakistanis on more than one front. We are living in an era where stronger trade and economic cooperation has become the focus of all countries and in this backdrop the CPEC's ongoing projects gain added significance. 

It ought to be mentioned with concern that  the general impression about the previous PTI government was that it did not pay as much attention to CPEC projects which should have been given to them and that's why  CPEC had slowed down when the PTI took reins of the government.  

The then Prime Minister Imran had also admitted that the pace of work on these projects was slowed down due to the impact of the corona pandemic and had promised to give momentum to efforts to accelerate work on them but to no avail. However, the current government must be focusing on the bilateral projects mainly CPEC and its various projects which is a welcome step. Anyways, the current government can repair this damage by once again making timely execution of CEPC projects a priority. Better late than never seems to be applying to the Govt's reaction on sluggish work o CPEC in recent years, and also a delay on those projects which are yet to be initiated under the ambit of CPEC. 

It may be mentioned here that former Prime Minister Khan while in power had made it clear   that his government had changed the focus of CPEC from road infrastructure to trade and industrialization, energy and agriculture. As far as the slow pace of work on CPEC is concerned, it is not a good omen.  Recently, the Senate Standing Committee on Planning and Development voiced its grave concern over the slow progress on projects related to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) in Gawadar, where people were up in protests for last year due to lack of amenities in the port city. Similar concerns have also been expressed before and the general impression is that the slow work has been hampering the completion of the CPEC projects. 

The Senate standing committee being led by PPP Senator Salim Mandviwalla last year himself visited Gawadar and had a an on-site meeting on CPEC-related projects, after which the team observed that progress on infrastructure and basic facilities has lost momentum and it is not per expectations so far. To be very specific, it is feared that the hefty investment involved in these projects can roll back, which will be a great loss to our economy which is already reeling under crisis. 

In this backdrop, time has come to restore confidence of Chinese investors, otherwise the continued sluggish with which the CPEC projects are going on will shy them away from further investment in the country. The Chinese authorities are also is much concerned about the sluggish progress on CPEC, which is the centrepiece of the BRI, during the previous PTI government. It is imperative for the current government to ensure rapid development on the pace of work on CPEC and guarantee its early completion. However, it is regrettable that the pace of work on this game-changer project is very slow which has also irked the Chinese investors. 

Last year, the Senate panel had showed concern over the slow pace of development on CPEC quoting the Chinese companies , who are openly expressing their dissatisfaction  over the insignificant progress on CPEC under the current govt which came into power  three years ago. Analysts say that   no progress on the portfolio was witnessed during the last three years which has irked the foreign investors. It is to be noted here that CPEC mainly aims at connecting Gwadar Port with  Xinjiang province of China. In this backdrop, it rightly considered to be a centerpiece of Belt and Road Initiative and a flagship plan of Chinese President Xi Jinping's aspiring initiatives. 

To be very specific, Chinese companies have already invested around $25 billion under the umbrella of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and  as reported in the media , more projects and plans to the tune of $20 billion are under implementation and will materialize soon.  As the reports said earlier that more projects worth a further $25 billion are in the pipeline but what the govt fails to understand is that such projects can roll back if steps were not taken to satisfy the Chinese investors. 

Published in The Daily National Courier, September, 20 2022

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