IPS delegation meets CPEC Authority chairman, gets briefed on progress, challenges

Pakistan
attaches great importance to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a
national project, and is ready to pay any price for its success. The chairman
of the newly created CPEC Authority Gen (r) Asim Saleem Bajwa stated this at an
exclusive session with a delegation of senior officials and researchers of the
Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) held at the CPEC Authority’s Secretariat on
January 18, 2021.

The
IPS delegation comprised its Executive President Khalid Rahman, GM Operations
Naufil Shahrukh, senior associates Amanullah Khan, Mirza Hamid Hasan, Dr Maliha
Zeba Khan, Ambassador (r) Tajammul Altaf, Brigadier (r) Said Nazir Mohmand, and
members of the Institute’s research and outreach team including Shafaq Sarfraz,
Asim Ehsan, Kulsoom Belal, Wali Farooqi, Hafiz Inamullah Khan, Shahid Afzal and
Maimoona Mahmood.

Briefing
the delegation about the progress on CPEC, the chairman said that work on the
eastern, western and central alignments is in full swing, and the second phase
of the project is just beginning. He also rubbished the claims that work on
phase one has slowed down, claiming nothing was on hold.

Bajwa
was of the view that underdeveloped areas, especially southern parts of
Balochistan were being given importance in CPEC; a dam and desalination plant
have been built in Gwadar in a bid to resolve chronic water shortages affecting
the inhabitants. An airport with the biggest runway of Pakistan worth $230
million was also being built in Gwadar.

Commenting
on phase one of CPEC, Asim Bajwa said the first phase’s success depends on the
second phase, which involves business-to-business and people-to-people
contacts. He also said synergy among all stakeholders is required to make CPEC
a success. In this regard, Pakistan-China Joint Chamber of Commerce &
Industry was also being revived, he informed.

He
stressed the need for projecting CPEC as a regional connectivity initiative to
make Pakistan emerge as an economically galvanizing state instead of a security
or terror-fighting state on the global spectrum. Afghan transit trade, he
added, is also now being facilitated through Gwadar port.

Khalid Rahman opined that China and Pakistan
both need each other to implement CPEC as the initiative’s success lies in
further strengthening bilateral relations. He also underlined the importance of
transparency and effective perception management for the success of CPEC to
counter the nefarious designs of Pakistan and China’s adversaries at all
levels.