CPEC developed faster than expected

Beijing

The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has developed faster than expected, but political stability in Pakistan will be the backbone of future sustainable growth, experts said.
The recent inauguration of a superhighway project under the CPEC will improve regional connectivity, which will be a positive outcome of the multi-billion-dollar project, Zhou Rong, a senior research fellow at the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University of China, told the Global Times.
“The development of the CPEC is getting better and better, as improved infrastructure will help link upstream and downstream businesses,” he said.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Saturday inaugurated the Sharqpur-Rajana section of the Lahore-Abdul Hakeem Motorway, or M-3, in Rajana Town near the textile city of Faisalabad in eastern Punjab province, according to the Xinhua News Agency.
The 138-kilometer section is a vital part of the 230-kilometer M-3, which is being funded by the Pakistani government and built by China Railway 20th Bureau Group, Xinhua said.
“Besides the motorway project, other projects – for example, some power plants – have already begun to deliver benefits to local people,” Zhou said.
He noted that China-backed energy projects had resolved electricity shortages in major industrial cities, which also made those areas much more competitive than previously. The Pakistan Neelum-Jhelum project, one of the most significant hydropower stations in Pakistan, saw its first turbine generator, which is designed to generate 243,000 kilowatts, officially start supplying electricity to the national grid, Beijing-based Economic Daily reported on May 2.
Construction work on the project began in 2008, with China Gezhouba Group Co as the major contractor.
But despite these signs of progress in CPEC-related projects, concern over the overall business environment in Pakistan has been looming, especially after the US reportedly pressured to put Pakistan on a terror-financing watch list, other experts noted.—Xinhua

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