BEIJING – The new Pakistani government has a major agenda of bringing theeconomy back on track. Imran Khan, whose political party emerged victoriousin the country’s recent election, appears ready for some drastic moves, andbuilding on China’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is one of them.
The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a flagship BRI project, is thelargest Chinese investment in Pakistan to date. Often termed a gamechanger, the $62 billion mega-project involves a massive financial inflowinto Pakistan to promote infrastructure, energy and trade development andcreate many jobs. Imran Khan has promised continued support to CPECinvolving all sectors of Pakistani society, according to an articlepublished by China.org.cn on Tuesday.
While he (Imran) has taken up the challenge of turning state-ownedcompanies into profit-generating machines, his plan also has the potentialof engaging private industry to ensure success for CPEC.
The national cricket-hero-turned-politician laid out his intentions forengaging with Pakistan’s closest ally in an interview with the Chinesenewspaper the Guangming Daily last month. He sees the CPEC as a medium andlong-term project, pledging to guarantee the corridor’s construction sothat both Pakistan and China benefit.
His party has identified several areas where cooperation with China will beexpanded.
Clean energy is one area where his neighbour has achieved monumentalsuccess. After the industrial boom, China was faced with heavy pollutionwhich had to be tackled by taking radical measures.
Large cities like Beijing almost immediately saw a turnaround in airquality indices as the government imposed strict monitoring andimplementation mechanisms much praised internationally.
Although China’s economy has been transformed into an industry-based one,its agricultural practices have also progressed at the same pace.Farm-produce has been increased by adopting innovative methods and byimplementing high-end research.
Pakistan’s economy, meanwhile, is still based on agriculture because of itsvast fertile land. While cooperation between the two countries on severalagri-products is underway, the new government intends to give this afurther push.
Industrial cooperation is a medium and long-term objective to be effectedthrough the CPEC. Assistance will be sought to improve domesticmanufacturing capabilities as China has long been more than willing tooffer its expertise.
Khan cites examples of China’s poverty alleviation programme. Theglobally-admired initiative China undertook enabling millions of people toescape from poverty is seen as giving Pakistan a way forward in thisregard, and special teams are to be sent to China for in-depth study of thepoverty reduction model.
Representatives of his party have already visited China’s Yunnan provincewhere the local government briefed them how they attained thepoverty-reduction goals.
The new Pakistani government also plans to focus on developing indigenousresources and promoting local value-addition approaches. This can be workedout by establishing more vocational training institutes in Pakistan andsending young people to China to acquire higher education and betterskills. If this goes as plan, the indigenous resource pool will witnessaugmented benefits from engagement in CPEC projects.
Pakistan has immense manufacturing potential owing to ample availability ofraw materials.
As the incoming government looks to revitalize Pakistan’s industry onmodern lines, companies will eventually be looking for global consumptionand should be ready for integration with various global supply chains.
The CPEC and BRI specifically aim to achieve this. Being trade routes inthe classical sense, they will provide transportation facilities that canhelp remodel local industry centers into globally-competitive economies.
As proclaimed in Khan’s election manifesto, he intends to focus onpartnerships in development projects undertaken by Chinese entities. Thiswill increase the transfer of knowledge to local firms, improve the skilllevel of the workforce and bring about sustained results. Joint ventureswill be encouraged, which will also help Chinese companies to benefit fromthe local knowledge of their Pakistani partners.
Pakistan, one of the forefront countries supporting New China in itsinitial opening-up years, is today being repaid by assisting it in becominga trade and economic hub on the Arabian Sea. The two countries are naturalpartners and support each other on matters of international politics andeconomy. That is why Imran Khan is now banking on the goodwill of the pastfor a stable and far-reaching cooperation in the future. – APP