CPEC

VI . CPEC : The Way forward I.Brief Overview Phase I of CPEC

TO capture poten al benefits of CPEC Phase II Pakistan needs 1. A memorandum of understanding signed by Pakistan and
to: China on July 5, 2013
1.de-poli cize CPEC-related policy and implementa on plans. 2. A flagship project of OBOR, connects over 60 countries
through Indian Ocean
2.make decisions on the basis of economic ra onale and
efficiency. 3. A 3218 km network of roads railways and pipeline linking
Kashgar in Northwest China’s Xinxiang Uyghur province and
3.Adopt 7-Day policy to facilitate business community
Southwest Pakistan Gwadar port
4. Design economic reforms and take Subsidies and
4. A new game changer not only for Pakistan but for en re
Countervailing Measures (SCM), Trade-Related Investment
region
Measures (TRIMS)
5. Has the poten al to bring peace and stability, economic
5. Develop SEZS policy and implement according to interna onal
revolu on and eliminate extremist threat from region
standards, as Pakistan is signatory to mul ple mul lateral
agreements. Phase I includes :
6. introduce idea of "ECO-Special Economic Zones" for 1. Two major dimensions: energy development project and
incen ves for SEZS infrastructure development projects
7. Ensure strict scru ny of performance and quality of work on 2. 1+4 pa ern of economic corpora on for Pakistan with central
different projects build the capacity of Pakistan's bureaucracy to role of CPEC including Gwadar port , energy , transporta on,
handle mul dimensional projects infrastructure and industrial coopera on region
8.Ensure Fiscal Accountability and Transparency in types of 3. 4 power plants with a total capacity of 755 MW has been
investment China is making, for example, how much is aid, completed ;addi onal 3 are under construc on,
grant, loan, or investment. Facilitate Regional stability.
CPEC par cipa ng projects include:

V. Policy Op ons for Pakistan to tackle security related issues 1. Hydropower plants
concerning CPEC 2. Thermal power plants
1. Moving from conflict management to conflict resolu on to 3. Solar power plants
minimize cross border threats 2. Improving mari me security ,
especially these related to sea based nuclear weapons to 4. Wind power plants
overcome Indian mari me threat 3. Forming alliances through
5. Airports
regional integra on with regional actors --- Iran , Afghanistan
and India 6. Major highways
4. Strengthening communica ons linkages in South Asia , Central 7. Major railways ; ML1
Asia and West Asia through SAARC and ECO via CPEC to deal
with the issues of extremism and violence 5. Taking on board all Analysis
local stakeholders in development projects to reduce the level of
Cri cal perspec ve: A quarter of announced projects have been
unemployment , and thus , to act as a bulwark against
completed, energy projects dominate, and industrializa on
extremism and terrorism
efforts are tagging
6. Minimizing nontradi onal security threats like climate change
Scaled-back Ambi ons: as of 122 announced projects, a quarter
, smuggling , cyber warfare and piracy , ISIS presence in li oral
have been completed
states and threats of subversion 7. se ng up a CPEC
development authority comprising civil and military officers for Energy Focus Carries Environmental Costs: Energy projects
be er coordina on , smooth an and mely execu on and uses coal, raising concerns about the high public health costs of
comple on of projects pollu on in Pakistan.
8. appeasing of local apprehensions by spreading awareness to Stuck on the Value Chain as vast majority of special economic
develop trust among locals and Chinese 9. Controlling internal zones (SEZs) remain empty, and informa on and
violence , sectarianism , terrorism by increasing security of communica on technology (ICT) projects have been limited
Chinese engineers , technicians and labor that is working on
CPEC

9.Making CPEC a corridor of coopera on than a conflict zone

and op ng for the path of geo economics 10. Planning of
effec ve human resource development by building the CPEC -
university Alliance , for developing the capacity of Pakistan's
exis ng HEIs in Balochistan , gilgit Bal stan , and coastal areas

IV.Challenges of CPEC

1. Poli cal discontentment on route selec on and on poli cal

economy for alloca on of resources

2. Lack of transparency about CPEC related projects

3. Threat of debt trap as its jeopardizes sovereignty

4. Decline in local job opportuni es as only skilled labor will be

able to meet the demands of the public private partnership of
Phase II

Opposi on from :
US: CPEC challenges US hegemony to counter Asia pivot India ;
CPEC sha er its vaul ng ambi on of regional power

UAE : a major cut in their virtual monopoly over trade in gulf

Iran : a serious case of ambivalence , Afghanistan : an CPEC
schemes

Security threat due to menace of terrorism from Tehreek-e-

Taliban Pakistan, Lasker E Jhangwi , East - Turkistan islamic
movement , Boluchistan libera on army , Balochistan libera on
front , ISIS and jundullah

III. Prospects of CPEC

For Pakistan CPEC could :

1. Strengthen Sino Pak rela ons

2. Give leverage into regional affairs due to China's stake

3.Provide opportunity to revive its economy , stablize its polity,

advances its interests, cater for energy needs, and cure its
na onal ills

4.Help socio economic and industrial development by

modernizing industries , agricultural farms, railways, airports ,
roads , fiber op c network , energy genera ng projects , solar
farms and high speed train between Karachi and Peshawar

5.Revive exis ng industries up to 2% of Pakistan GDP through

Zonergy 900 MW solar power plant , Karot Hydropower project
, Port Qasim coal fired power plant , "thar coal Project , Khola
Power project , Neelam Jhelum Project , Daso Power plant ,
Nuclear projects at Chasma
6.Promote cultural and civic collabora on through training of
local police and military on an - terrorist and bomb detec on
techniques to create safe zones like Safe ci es ini a ve

7.Promote people to people communica on via collabora on

on educa on , health , drinking water facili es to local people
and culture

8. Promote agricultural development with modernize methods

of seed produc on

9. Extend cross border op c fiber network through Khunjrab -

Gawadar Karachi for high - speed interna onal connec on , to
cater to internet traffic needs of both countries

10. Help tap into the halal food market that es mates to grow to
3 trillion by 2027

11. Enhance defense coopera on to strengthen mari me

security and stability as a deterrence to Indian naval power

12.Enhance sale of nuclear power plants to Pakistan to counter

Indo US nuclear corpora on

For china CPEC could :

1. Help Pakistan to bring in nuclear mainstream through nuclear

suppliers group

2. Help overcome Malacca dilemma and alleviates its fear of

weakness in Indian Ocean

3. Secure alterna ve route its energy needs to reduce oil

shipment route from 16000 km to 5000km

4.Promote development of XingXiang region with increase in

export of goods and frequent oil supply

5. Expand global role in its strategy of Strings of Pearls

6.Enhance so power over other countries

7.Improve its interac on with central Asia , west Asia , middle
east and Europe and rest of world

8 .Replace USA posi on in middle East through bridging

Pakistan between China and Muslim world

II.Recent Developments and Phase II

Recent development in 2020 has completed:

1. $25bn investment now CPEC has entered in Phase Il

2. Orange Line Metro Line (OLMT), Pakistan's first electric-

powered public transport, that opened the doors for innova ve
sub ways,
3. official CPEC website says, 03 out of 09 proposed SEZs are
being developed rapidly that include Allama Iqbal industrial City
Faisalabad, Dhabeji SEZ, and Rashakai SEZ

4. Re-opening up on the trade points on Pak-Afghan border has

been announced under Phase II

Second Phase focus on:

1. Forging Business to Business (B2B) and Person to Person

(P2P} collabora ons in the form of industrial & socio-economic
coopera on

2. Special Economic Zones Industrializa on

3. Agriculture technology laboratories

4. Smart classroom projects

5. Overseas student scholarship program

6. Pakistan Voca onal Schools Equipment

7. Solar projects in Baluchistan

8. Pak-China Friendship Hospitals

9. Burn Centre projects in all provinces

10. Desalina on plant in Gwadar in addi on to drinking water
supply project for AJK and KPK

11. "Special Security Division’, has been launched by Federal

government to protect CPEC and its workforce.

12. Pakistani security agencies have conducted JOINT

opera ons against ETIM and the TTP