on the occasion of CPEC conference
CPEC: The Economic and Political Game Changer of the Region I
Dr.Syed Mehboob
Pakistan-China friendship is stronger than the Himalayas and deeper than the Pacific Ocean, its fragrance spreads all over the world; it is among people to people, in the hearts, minds, and sentiments of the people of both countries. It is time-tested, all-weather, long-lasting, historical, unique, and visionary. Pakistanis consider China as their brother, supporter, trustworthy, reliable, and credible friend. Pakistan-China friendship is so deeply rooted that it is narrated in stories told by mothers to their children, it is told to students in schools, colleges, and universities, it is found in poetry and music, it is found in scholars’ articles and in their research.
On April 20, 2015, Pakistan and China signed a landmark agreement to start work on a project worth US$46 billion known as the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). The project aimed to connect Pakistani seaport of Gwadar, located on the Baluchistan coast of the Arabian Sea, with the Chinese city of Kashgar, located in north-western region of Xinjiang. It is CPEC and People-to-People Contacts through a network of rail, roads and oil and gas pipelines. The project is a continuation of Pakistani and the Chinese policies, pursued over the last decade, to expand and deepen traditional Pakistan-China friendship, and economic and trade relations. It is meant to materialize China’s initiatives for promoting physical and commercial connectivity with the neighbouring countries to achieve the goal of greater regional integration in Asia. As it is evident from the allocation of funds for various projects, the main focus of the project is on the development of energy sector and building of infrastructure, which will receive US$ 33.8 and US$11.8 billion respectively. While highlighting its benefits for Pakistan and China, its economic dimension is emphasized. However, the project has also a cultural dimension through a network of rail, roads and oil and gas pipelines.
Moving away from its over 100 years of passive integration into the world order since the revolution of 1911, China has now decided to take an active role shaping a new world order by using its wide- ranging and far-reaching development approach. China and the OBOR countries will become a consortium of geopolitical and geo-economic cooperation, eventually forming a community of common destiny, common interests, values and cultures, and a community of security. The CPEC, the hub of OBOR, links the belt in Central Asia and the road with the Indian Ocean. The region around the CPEC has seen the rise of the previous world cultural centers. This is the same area where the ancient world influenced China and China also influenced the world. If Karamay in northern Xinjiang is designated as the northern starting point of the CPEC, if a circle is drawn around it through Kashgar, Gilgit to Gwadar, it is clearly visible that the CPEC runs through the five highest mountain ranges (Tianshan, Pamir, Hindu Kush, Karakoram, and Himalaya) of the earth that are the sources of the Amu Darya (Amu River) and Indus River.
The China Pakistan economic Corridor is rightly called, a game changer or “The Gateway to the prosperity”. CPEC is the pilot project and currently 11 projects had been completed with another 11 are under construction. Estimated seventy thousand employment opportunities had been created. Energy infrastructure has been earmarked for a capacity of 11,110 MW, of which 10,000 MW has been achieved. Pakistani and Chinese engineers are working shoulder to shoulder to combat against load shedding and to remove darkness.
The physical, commercial and cultural connectivity between Pakistan and China is bound to increase under the CPEC as the project aims to build a network of rail and road connections between the two countries. The CPEC is likely to provide an opportunity to all the regions of Pakistan to share the fruits of economic development under the CPEC. The huge investment in joint ventures in the economic zones linked to the CPEC will lead to the deployment of a large number of workers of both Pakistan and the China, which will provide an opportunity to them to interact with each other. A new generation of the Chinese oriented in their outlook more towards the West has grown up. They know very little about Pakistan. Similarly, Pakistani’s knowledge about the Chinese is also very limited. This can be enhanced only through the promotion of people-to people contacts for which the two countries have already started serious efforts. With the implementation of the CPEC, these efforts will gain new momentum.
The 15-year project is being executed in four phases: First Phase: 2018 – Early Harvest The first phase of the economic corridor is focused on the “Early Harvest” scheme of the CPEC, which has been completed. It will bring transformational change by solving the problems of energy and infrastructure sector. In this phase, the road connectivity would also be completed to interconnect not only all the provinces but also the entire region. Second Phase: 2020 Second phase of the CPEC envisages the construction of cross border optical fiber cable system between China and Pakistan; textile garments industrial park projects in Pakistan; numerous ventures in the energy sector yielding power from various sources comprising hydel, coal, wind, solar and nuclear, entailing the development of coal mining projects, construction of dams and the installation of nuclear reactors; besides creating a network of roads, railway lines and oil and gas pipelines. Agreements have been made to construct a new airport, Eastbay Expressway, fully equipped hospital, technical & vocational training institute, water supply and distribution, infrastructure for free-zone and export processing zones, port related industries, refineries, and marine works. Major Chinese companies investing in Pakistan’s energy sector will include China’s Three Gorges Corporation, which built the world’s biggest hydro power project, and China Power International Development Ltd. Under the agreement signed by the Chinese and Pakistani leaders at a summit in Beijing recently, US$15.5 billion worth of coal, wind, solar and hydro energy projects will come online and add 10,400 megawatts of energy to the national grid. An additional 6,120 megawatts will be added to the Regional and Global Scenarios of the CPEC 51 national grid at a cost of US$18.2 billion by 2021. The transport and communication infrastructure — roads, railways, cable, and oil and gas pipelines — will stretch at about 2,700 km from Gawadar on the Arabian Sea to the Khunjerab Pass at the China-Pakistan border in the Karakorum. Starting in 2016, the Chinese companies will invest an average of over US$7 billion a year until 2021, a figure exceeding the previous record of US$5.5 billion foreign direct investment (FDI) in 2007 in Pakistan. Third Phase 2025 ;The third phase of CPEC mostly comprises of major upgrades to Pakistan's ageing railway system, including rebuilding of the entire Main Line 1 railway between Karachi and Peshawar ; this single railway currently handles 70 per cent of Pakistan Railways traffic. In addition to the Main Line 1 (railway), upgrades and expansions are slated for the Main Line 2 and 3 (railway). The CPEC plan also calls for completion of a rail link over the 4,693-meter high Khunjerab Pass. The railway will provide direct access for Chinese and East Asian goods to Pakistani seaports at Karachi and Gwadar by 2030. Procurement of an initial 250 new passenger coaches and reconstruction of 21 train stations are also planned as part of the first phase of the project – bringing the total investment in Pakistan’s railway system to approximately US$5 billion. 180 of the coaches are to be built at the Pakistan Railways Carriage Factory near Islamabad, while the Government of Pakistan intends to procure an additional 800 coaches at a later date, with the intention of building 595 of those coaches in Pakistan.