Gwadar deep sea port has been completed with China's technical and financial support with the cost of 248llion US $.
Gwadar port operations have been handed over towards most famous port operators “Port Singapore Authority”.
650 Km Coastal highway from Karachi to Gwadar has been completed and handed over to Motorway Police.
Gwadar Gas Pipeline project has been completed.
Pearl Continental, a five star hotel has been completed and is operating.
Pakistan's history the biggest Railway budget of Rs.75 billion approved for rail link from Gwadar to the other parts of the country, Central Asia and China.
Government has announced Gwadar as 40 years tax free and special economic zone.
Chinese minister hopeful of successful completion of all CPEC projects
Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Li Huilai said that his country will provide all possible support to Pakistan ensuring success of projects under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
“We attach high importance to CPEC since it is a pilot project of China’s initiative of One belt One Road,” he said adding that this connectivity plan is aimed at bringing peace and prosperity in the region and the world as a whole. Pakistan, he said, is their best friend and they wished to take their decades’ old relationship to a new height through frequent socio-economic interaction and people-to-people contacts.
“The Chinese government is encouraging its business community to make maximum investment in Pakistan for the success of CPEC,” Li Huilai said, and added that this in an informal chat with a media delegation consisting of over 30 representatives from 18 member states, observer states and dialogue partners of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). The visit was arranged on the occasion of the 15th anniversary of SCO.
The minister expressed his confidence that the concept of One Belt and One Road will not only raise the living standards of the people of both sides but will also positively affect the entire region. Replying to a question, he said that CPEC is the best example of growing Sino-Pak relationship.
Maximising benefits of the economic corridor
The China-Pakistan one-belt one-corridor project is by far the most ambitious mega project that Pakistan has undertaken in its 68 years of existence with its closest strategic and economic partner China. It has been described as a game changer and transformational with huge economic expectations linked to it.
Currently, the Chinese are engaged in broadening the existing Karakoram Highway (KKH), from the existing 10m width to 30m. This will facilitate the flow of heavy traffic throughout the year, which is expected to increase on the completion of the CPEC. It will also contribute towards enhancing China’s trade and economic activity with Central and West Asia. From the Pakistani perspective, the Gwadar port will be a great asset for Balochistan as it will facilitate and expedite its development. For China, it will be the shortest route to Malacca, the Straits of Hormuz and the Indian Ocean.
Pakistan’s primary focus at present is to develop strong links with China and using these for improving the socioeconomic conditions of the broad underprivileged classes. But opportunities exist also to develop additional links to neighbouring countries. In the past, Iran had offered Pakistan land access to Central Asia and Russia, and in return expected Pakistan to provide access to China through KKH. With India developing Iran’s Chabahar port and connecting it with a road network to Afghanistan, this opens up opportunities for countries of the region to complement rather than confront one another. The Chinese are not very comfortable in giving the project an exaggerated geopolitical perspective and would rather highlight the economic and commercial benefits of it. This is a prudent approach and Pakistan, too, should lay greater emphasis on the socioeconomic aspect and opening up of Balochistan and interior Sindh, the most underdeveloped parts of the country. Being a national project that involves practically the whole of Pakistan, it should aim at improving the lot of the common person. Similarly, the Chinese government expects the project would contribute towards the sustained development of China.
