Syed Ali Nawaz Gilani<\/p>\n
China is moving on BRI & its re\u00adlated projects around the globe fast but in organized manner to achieve the Shared Prosperity goal. Re\u00adcently held 10th Anniversary of BRI\u2019s CPEC shows that the im\u00adportance not only attach ed with this reject from China but also from Pakistan as a game changers for socio economic development activities in the country much needed. Recent past China\u2019s initiative to bring closer Saudi Arabia & Iran after a decades is also the part of China\u2019s desires to suc\u00adcess BRI & CPEC.
\nPakistan is fortunate in this regard that it already has China\u2019s flagship proj\u00adect the China Pakistan Economic Cor\u00adridor (CPEC), which was launched in 2013 in which a lot of work has been completed, including coal, windmills and hydropower, about more then 15 projects have been completed.
\nWhile work is ongoing on six projects, including the Suki Kinari hydro proj\u00adect of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, its seventy percent work has been also completed. With the completion of all these proj\u00adects, thousands of megawatts of elec\u00adtricity will be added to the national grid. There is a need to fix the local sys\u00adtem to take full advantage of the elec\u00adtricity generated until the feeders are not updated and the damaged wires and transformers are not replaced the problems will continue to exist which is the biggest obstacle in taking benefits from CPEC. Therefore it is necessary to make better use of the help of the Chi\u00adnese brothers to remove the current hurdles in the way of electricity trans\u00admission at the local level.
\nOn the other hand, from an economic point of view, under CPEC, project like Rashakai Special Economic Zone in Khy\u00adber Pakhtunkhwa is in the stages of com\u00adpletion, in which 247 acre of area have been prepared and underway for invest\u00adment. Several enterprises have been reg\u00adistered while a few have started con\u00adstruction of their industrial units.
\nSimilarly, if the entire CPEC project is reviewed then the investors and the government of Pakistan will have to do their part to benefit from the above project. The fact that the phase one has been completed, raises many questions that we are not fully prepare for that dynamic scheme.
\nApart from this, the tourism sector is also expected to expand. These initia\u00adtives are very promising for expand\u00ading employment opportunities for residents. Agriculture and tourism in\u00addustries are considered the backbone of future growth. But the key ques\u00adtion remains unanswered: Is Pakistan ready to reap the potential benefits of CPEC? Does Pakistan have enough soft infrastructure to attract investment in the industrial sector, especially Spe\u00adcial Economic Zones (SEZs)? Pakistan may not have developed the funda\u00admentals needed to reap all the bene\u00adfits of CPEC Phase II.
\nThree conditions are needed to reap the potential benefits of industrializa\u00adtion and tourism: human capital (HC), rural connectivity (RC). ) and busi\u00adness environment (BE) that will at\u00adtract foreign direct investment (FDI) and tourists. Considering human capi\u00adtal, Pakistan has made little progress in education and health compared to oth\u00ader South Asian countries. Second, Well-developed rural roads are needed to connect growth-generating sectors in different regions and achieve wider dis\u00adtribution of economic benefits.
\nThey are also a prerequisite for the development of remote or environmen\u00adtally difficult areas. Infrastructure in\u00advestment in rural areas leads to higher agricultural and non-agricultural pro\u00adduction, employment and income. Ru\u00adral linkages with SEZs are key to creat\u00ading opportunities for the poor to uplift their economic status, which is a pre\u00adcursor to inclusive growth.
\nIn South Asia, Pakistan is also ranked fifth among eight countries. Indica\u00adtive data shows that getting electricity (ranked 123), paying taxes (ranked 161), trading across borders (ranked 111) and enforcing contracts (ranked 156) are highly Low performance indicators.
\nWe know that a good institutional framework, political stability and an in\u00addependent legal system etc. play an in\u00adtegral role in improving these indica\u00adtors. So not surprisingly, the quality of the institutional framework in Pakistan is very poor. To maximize the potential benefits of CPEC, Pakistan needs to im\u00adprove these conditions, in which it is currently underperforming.
\nPakistan needs to invest in develop\u00adment institutions that need restruc\u00adturing to improve the legal framework, enforce the rule of law and ensure po\u00adlitical stability. Political stability will be critical to the success of any devel\u00adopment project and accountability pro\u00adcess. This undermines the growth pro\u00adcess, creates investment uncertainty, discourages international investors and discourages tourists. Where there is some good news is the government on reforms and ease of doing business. Fo\u00adcusing efforts are being made to imple\u00adment positive impacts.
\nHowever, these reforms will not yield the desired results unless we have a stable political environment and im\u00adprove the effectiveness of government.
\nThe development of local roads and transport systems should be part of the CPEC agenda. Without creating lo\u00adcal connectivity, roads and SEZs cannot generate the desired economic growth and employment.
\nAs we are entering in the second phase after the success of phase one of the great project the Federal & all four Provincial governments should also proactively plan then develop local road and transportation networks. At that point human capital development should be facilitated through formal education and technical training, espe\u00adcially in disadvantaged districts. Con\u00adsequently government should design area-specific training courses to meet local needs then it will be more fruitful for the country\u2019s bright future.
\nCourtesy<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Syed Ali Nawaz Gilani China is moving on BRI & its re\u00adlated projects around the globe fast but in organized manner to achieve the Shared Prosperity goal. Re\u00adcently held 10th Anniversary of BRI\u2019s CPEC shows that the im\u00adportance not only attach ed with this reject from China but also from Pakistan as a game changers […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[8910],"class_list":{"0":"post-389560","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-article","7":"tag-syed-ali-nawaz-gilani"},"yoast_head":"\n