The 2nd Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation will be held in Beijing on 25-27 April. Over the past few days, Pakistani leaders and relevant government authorities have been actively preparing for the summit. There are quite a lot of reports on the theme of the summit in Pakistan's mainstream media. It can be seen that Pakistan, which is one of the friendliest neighbors for China, is eagerly looking forward to the function. 

China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is a flagship project of the Belt and Road Initiative, and is also an important project for the trial ahead. The project was officially launched on April 20, 2015, exactly four years ago. Through the unremitting joint efforts by the two countries over the past 4 years, important progress has been made in the construction of the CPEC. It has not only enabled the government and people of Pakistan to see the future of the country, but also demonstrated to the world that the Belt and Road Initiative is a valuable platform for international economic cooperation and solving human development problems. 

For a long time, Pakistan has been facing two main problems. One is the serious shortage of electricity, and the other is the backward transportation infrastructure, which are the fundamental causes of many other well-being issues in Pakistan, restricting the development of the country. They are also the fundamental reasons for the backwardness of the country, economic difficulties and the occasional financial crisis.

Most of the 22 projects under the CPEC framework have been completed and put into operation. The rest will be completed and started into operation on time. These 22 projects are major ones for Pakistan's national development. They will not only effectively alleviate the serious power shortage, but also improve the transportation infrastructure. Three of the nine industrial parks along the CPEC are already under development. 

It is estimated that the annual contribution of tax payment to Pakistani government with the full operation of the 22 CPEC projects will exceed 4 billion U.S. dollars, and it will reach tens of billions of U.S. dollars after the completion of all the nine industrial parks. 

With the gradual improvement of Pakistan's security situation, the steady progress of the construction of China-Pakistan economic corridor and the start-up of industrial parks, more and more countries have now seen the strategic investment value of the CPEC. Not long ago, Saudi Arabia reached an agreement with Pakistan to invest 10 billion U.S. dollars in the construction of a refinery in Gwadar. Saudi leaders said their investment in Pakistan would gradually increase to100 billion U.S. dollars. 

At the same time, enterprises from China, Japan and South Korea, which are major investors in the world, are rushing into Pakistan to invest and build factories on a large scale. After the completion of the nine industrial parks, Pakistan's manufacturing capacity, production and export capacity of industrial products will be greatly improved. It is believed that by that time, Pakistan's long-standing trade imbalance, foreign exchange shortage and financial difficulties will be fundamentally solved. 

The Pakistani government and people have given firm support to the BRI since it was put forward by China. At the coming second Belt and Road International Cooperation Summit in Beijing, Prime Minister Imran Khan will lead a high-level delegation himself to show that Pakistan attaches great importance to the summit. 

The core of the BRI put forward by China is to focus on infrastructure construction, strengthen interoperability in all directions, dig new impetus for world economic growth, and create a new platform for international economic cooperation. China hopes to organize the second summit forum, together with other parties, to sum up experience, plan the future and build consensus, so as to promote the international cooperation under this initiative towards high-quality development. 

Now, more and more countries join the BRI. By participating in this summit, Pakistan can share the experience of the CPEC, discuss cooperation with other countries, and guide more countries to invest in Pakistan to participate in the CPEC construction, especially to invite more countries to participate in the development of industrial parks along the CPEC.

Copy Editor/Kang Sijun

Editor/Kang Sijun

Author: Cheng Xizhong is an adjunct senior fellow at the Charhar Institute
Source: China Economic Net, 2019-04-22
Original Link: http://en.ce.cn/main/latest/201904/22/t20190422_31909709.shtml