In a leap towards early completion of China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), Pakistan and China have agreed to finalise the long-term plan of the corridor by July, 2015, while agreeing to speed-up the process of its drafting.
The CPEC is a part of the vision of the Chinese leadership aimed at sharing its fruits of developments with the entire South Asia region. The CEPEC route starts from Kashgar, the traditional business center in China’s Xinjiang province which connects China with South Asian and central Asian states. The CPEC then enters Pakistan through 1300-kilometer-long Karakoram Highway (KKH) and runs throughout Pakistan, finally reaches Gwadar Port in the South in Balochistan.
In this regard, a 19-member Chinese Expert Group on long term planning of CPEC led by Hu Dongsheng, Deputy Director General of China Development Bank, visited Pakistan recently. During the visit, the Chinese experts held extensive and in-depth discussions with their Pakistani counterparts led by Secretary Hassan Nawaz Tarar of the Ministry of Planning, Development and Reform. Both sides emphasized the importance of longterm plan and expressed their commitment to complete it within scheduled timeframe.
Both the delegations of neighbouring friendly countries reiterated their determination to implement the consensus reached by the previous meetings of the Joint Cooperation Committee of CPEC, as well as its working groups. They reviewed the draft long-term plan of CPEC (2015–2030) and believed this draft could be a good basis for further deliberations.
It was agreed that the CPEC is a comprehensive package of cooperative initiatives and projects, which covers the key areas including connectivity, information network infrastructure, energy cooperation, industries and industrial parks, agricultural development and poverty alleviation, tourism, financial cooperation as well as livelihood improvement including municipal infrastructure, education, public health and people-to-people communication.
The two delegations decided to push forward the implementation of the Early Harvest Projects as well as the preparation of the projects of the long-term plan in all sectors. With the experience earned in the process of CPEC construction and the improvement of local economy and security conditions, the CPEC will not only benefit the entire Pakistan but also contribute to the regional peace, stability and prosperity.
