Chinese daily terms CPEC door to ‘foreign investment’

Says key projects including reconstruction of Karakoram Highway has already begun

ISLAMABAD: The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has opened the doors to foreign investment in Pakistan, which will improve the local economy and the peoples' livelihood, said a report published in Chinese newspaper, Global Times online.

CPEC - the flagship project under the "One Belt One Road" initiative - is progressing with work on priority projects already under way.

The corridor, also a door to foreign investment in Pakistan, has brought the Central Asian country more development opportunities, the report added.



"In May this year, China will host in Beijing the Belt and Road Forum, which aims to discuss ways to boost cooperation, build cooperation platforms and share cooperation outcomes,” Chinese President Xi Jinping said at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2017 in Davos, Switzerland.

Proposed by China in 2013, the initiative refers to building a Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road.

It is aimed at building a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along ancient trade routes.

Of the projects under the framework, the CPEC is regarded as a vanguard in China's cooperation with countries along the routes.

The initiative is a "game changer" for Pakistan, former Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said.

Key energy projects and infrastructure along the CPEC, a major pilot project under the framework, will serve as an important engine to drive Pakistan's economic growth and bring more economic activities and opportunities to the country, he added.

 



Along the corridor, the Thakot-Havelian section reconstruction project of the Karakoram Highway, the only overland channel connecting China and Pakistan, the Multan-Sukkur section of a motorway linking Peshawar and Karachi, as well as the Orange Line of the Lahore Metro have begun.

Meanwhile, 10 power plants with a total installed capacity of 7,300 megawatts, including one in Sahiwal, have begun construction. Other projects include the Gwadar Port as well as a 25-hectare free zone in adjacent areas of the port.

The report said that these infrastructure projects offer new opportunities for China's machinery industry as well.