Financial experts and strategic analysts have said  CPEC project, which is termed as game-changer for Pakistan and the entire region must be revived by the current coalition government. As such, the Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif must focus on this project during his first official trip to China this week. 

The mega project has been victim of delay during the former PTI government and it needs to be restarted so that the pending large infrastructure projects can be completed.  

The inaction by the former PTI rule on CPEC project has delayed the completion of projects like  $10bn railway project, the Karachi Circular Railway, and the schemes pertaining to energy production worth $18.5bn. It was mainly due to the deferrals in payments to Chinese power producers by the former PTI government that is factor behind delay. Moreover, our country is also faced with the liquidity troubles which is also a factor.   However, it is good to note that the current coalition government is giving due attention which is evident from the recent meeting of the Joint Cooperation Committee, which was held after a long time, This meeting is important as it has given go ahead to projects, and during the PM Shahbaz visit to China, a formal announcement will be made. It is eagerly hoped that PM Shahbaz’s visit to China will allay the fears and apprehensions of the Chinese Government and investors, and the work and funding for the mega projects will restore. 

The work on this mega project, which is believed to be a game changer for the country, is not only proceeding with same snail’s pace but also the future CPEC projects are lying in cold storage with no immediate solution in sight.  

It ought to be mentioned that work has come almost to a halt on some plans which are part of the CPEC Project and the government does not seem interested in taking notice of the delay either. What is going on behind the scene is not exactly know at this point but one thing is for sure that the PTI government during its  previous tenure gave cold-shouldered approach to this game-changer project.    It ought to be mentioned with concern that not a single project was completed and funding to the ongoing ones was also stopped during the PTI government’s tenure.

Critics say that if the pace of projects was maintained from where the last government had left, it would have contributed immensely to the country’s development, prosperity and things would have been different on the economic scene.   Now the upcoming visit of Prime Minister Shahbaz's trip to China, it is eagerly hoped that  it might help reinvigorate this game-changer epic project which promises a lot of opportunities to Pakistanis on more than one front.  

According to reliable information, around twenty-one different sectors and projects which come under the ambit of  CPEC will be discussed during the PM's  visit to China. These are related to the Special Economic Zones established under CPEC, business and trade, IT, agriculture and the relocation of various Chinese industries to our country.  Analysts say that   no progress on the portfolio was witnessed during the PTI tenure i.e. 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.

During PM’s stay in Beijing, he will hold bilateral meetings with Chinese counterpart and other high officials. The main aim and objectives of these bilateral meetings is to open up as many as 21 new sectors under the CPEC.

As a matter of fact, 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 govt 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 and the pace of work on these projects was not expedited.  

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. 

With China’s visit, the government can use this occasion to repair this damage by once again making timely execution of CEPC projects a priority.  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 weeks 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 team last year visited Gawadar and had  an on-site meeting on CPEC-related projects, after which the team observed that progress on infrastructure and basic facilities has lost momentum.

 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. 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. 

Published in The Daily National Courier, November, 02 2022

Like Business on Facebook, follow @DailyNCourier on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.