FormerPakistaniPrimeMinisterShaukatAzizrepteatedlyindicatedthattheBeltandRoadInitiativehasbroughthugedevelopmentopportunitiestoPakistan.
ChinaandPakistanstandtobenefitconsiderablyfromtheeconomiccorridorthatnowlinksthem.
ChinaTheChina-PakistanEconomicCorridorhasempoweredXinjiangUygurAutonomousRegiontobecomeahubinCentralAsia,promotinglocaldevelopmentandreducingthetraveltimefromGwadarPort,PakistantoChinafromsevendaystotwo.Theeconomiccorridor鈥檚shortenedenergytransmissiondistancealsoguaranteesthecountry鈥檚energysecurity.
Pakistan
China-PakistanenergycooperationensuresthatPakistan鈥檚energysupplymeetsthedemandsofitsindustrialdevelopment.BilateralcooperationininfrastructurehasenabledthecountrytoformahighwaynetworkthatwillmakeitafuturekeydevelopmentalnodeinEurasia.Bilateralcooperationintheconstructionofindustrialparkshasfueledthecountry鈥檚economicdevelopmentandcreatedmorejobsforlocalresidents.
TheformalstartofoperationsatGwadarPortsignaleditsfirstlargescaleloadingofexportcontainers.DESPITEsluggishglobaleconomicdevelopment,Pakistanachievedoutstandinggrowthin2016.DuringitsfiscalyearJuly2015toJune2016,thecountry鈥檚GDPincreasedby4.7percentoverthepreviousyear,thelargestincreaseinthelasteightyears.Itsindustrialgrowthreached6.8percent,alsothehighestineightyears,exceedingitstargetgrowthof6.4percent.Thisfiscalyear(July2016toJune2017),Pakistan鈥檚economicgrowthisexpectedtotop5percent,andhit5.4percentin2018.
Inaddition,Pakistan鈥檚KSE100Indexincreasedbymorethan45percentin2016,rebalancingthehistoricalrecordandrepresentingthebestperformanceintheAsianmarket.MorganStanleyCapitalInternational(MSCI)re-listedthePakistanistockmarketasMSCI鈥檚emergingmarketbenchmarkstockindex.
ItisclearthattheriseofPakistan鈥檚stockmarketisrelatedtoitssteadyeconomicgrowth,which,toalargedegree,canbeascribedtotheimplementationoftheBeltandRoadInitiative.FormerPakistaniPrimeMinisterShaukatAzizrepeatedlyindicatedthattheBeltandRoadInitiativehasbroughthugedevelopmentopportunitiestoPakistan,andhasbecomeadrivingforcebehindregionaldevelopment.TheIMFalsonamedtheinvestmentprojectsalongtheChina-PakistanEconomicCorridorasoneofthethreemajorcatalystsforPakistan鈥檚economicdevelopment.
PoorInfrastructureConstrainsEconomicDevelopment
AgricultureconstitutesPakistan鈥檚economicfoundation;ruralresidentsaccountfor48percentofthecountry鈥檚totalpopulation.Duetothelimitedscaleofindustryandinsufficientindustrialstructure,thecountry鈥檚industrialoutputisonly24percentofitstotaleconomicoutput.
Overthepast20years,Pakistan鈥檚economyhasmaintainedoverallmomentumforgrowth,buthasbeenconstrainedbyinadequateenergysupplyandbackwardinfrastructure.Thecountryhasbeeneagertoimprovethesituation.
Takethepowersystem,forexample:duringthesummer,thepeakseasonforelectricityconsumption,Pakistanusedtohaveadeficitofover6,000megawatts.Lowelectricitycapacitymeantthatnationwideblackoutswerefrequent.OnJuly10,2012,Islamabadsufferedan8-hourpowercut.OnJune25,2013,theelectricitysupplywasdownfor12-15hoursinmajorcities,andfor16-18hoursinruralareas.OnApril29,2014,majorcitiessufferedpoweroutagesfor10-12hours,whileruralareaswerecutoffformorethan12hours.
PoortransportationinfrastructureisanotherbottleneckinPakistan鈥檚economicdevelopment.Itsrailwaysystemhasnotseenanyimprovementsforalongtime.Itshighwaysystemisalsounderdevelopedwithpoorroadconditionsandalowroaddensity.Manyremoteareasremainunconnectedtotheoutsideworld.
TheconstructionofGwadarPort,energy,transportationinfrastructure,andindustryarekeyareastobedevelopedintheeconomiccorridor.
China-PakistanEconomicCorridor
TheconstructionoftheChina-PakistanEconomicCorridorstartedin2013.AnimportantpartoftheBeltandRoadInitiative,itstrengthenedexchangesandcooperationbetweenChinaandPakistaninareasliketransportation,energy,andmaritimeactivities,andimprovedconnectivitybetweenthetwocountries.
Thecorridorisactuallyapassagewayfortrade,involvingroads,railways,oilandgaspipelines.Thereisalsoanopticalcableroute,fromKashgarinXinjiang,China,toGwadarPortinsouthPakistan,whichrunstomorethan3,000kmandisexpectedtoconnecthundredsofmillionsofpeople.ChinaandPakistanhaveagreedthattheconstructionofGwadarPort,energy,transportationinfrastructure,andindustryarekeyareastobedevelopedintheeconomiccorridor,promotingconnectivityandeconomicdevelopmentinPakistan.
Aftertheprinciplebehindtheeconomiccorridor鈥檚constructionwasagreedon,arangeofmajorprojects,includingindustrialparksandfreetradezones,werestartedinsuccession,andcooperationwasestablishedinmultipleareasincludinginfrastructure,energyresources,waterconservationinagriculture,andinformationtechnology.In2015,thetwocountriesmadeover50cooperationagreementswithatotalvalueofUS$46billion.Problemswithtransportation,energy,andinfrastructure,whichhavebeenimpedingPakistan鈥檚economicdevelopment,havebecomeaparticularfocusoftheBeltandRoadInitiative.Chinaislendingitsvastexperienceintheseareastohelppavethewayforward.