Port of Gwadar offers new opportunity for Afghan economy
The first transit trade ship for Afghanistan arrived at the Gwadar port in January. Experts in Pakistan believed that the start of Afghan transit trade through Gwadar is a right decision in making the port completely functional to boost regional connectivity and development.
“We are pleased for the new progress achieved in the development of the Gwadar port,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang stated.
“We support Gwadar port in playing a bigger role in promoting regional goods and trade cooperation. It is proven that the CPEC not only benefits both China and Pakistan but also regional connectivity and economic cooperation,” he said.
CPEC: Pakistani Government Announces Completion of 13 Projects Worth $11 Billion
The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a flagship project under Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), aims to enhance bilateral ties between the two countries through a planned network of roads and railways that would link Xinjiang province of China with Pakistan’s strategic Gwadar Port.
The Pakistani government told the country’s parliament on Thursday that 13 projects worth $11 billion have been completed under the $60 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project.
It also announced that another 13 CPEC-related projects worth $18 billion are under implementation, whereas projects amounting to $21 billion are in the pipeline.
KCR among top three projects under CPEC in Sindh, federal parliamentary body told
Elsewhere in regions other than Gwadar, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah on Monday said that his government was keen to start a number of projects under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) with Karachi Circular Railway, Dhabeji Special Economic Zone and Keti Bandar Deep-Sea Port as a top priority of the provincial administration.
Anti-CPEC Sentiment from US upsets China and Pakistan
Pakistan has consistently defended itself against accusations with its close ties with China. Alice Wells, head of central and South Asian affairs in the US State Department has once again spoken out against the CPEC on her recent visit to Pakistan. Pakistan stood its ground with China with most Pakistani’s in favour of CPEC and the progress it is bringing to the country.
Imran rejects CPEC”s criticism as ”nonsense”
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has rejected the criticism of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) as “nonsense”, insisting that the project “is really helping” the country, a media report commented.
“When the Chinese came to help us with this Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and CPEC, we were really at the rock bottom,” Khan said in a CNBC interview when asked if the project was a debt-trap for Pakistan.
“So, we are really grateful to the Chinese that they came and rescued us,” Dawn news reported citing the Prime Minister as saying in the interview in Davos, Switzerland, where he was attending the annual World Economic Forum.
For more stories that CPIC highlighted in January
- FIRST LPG TERMINAL INAUGURATED AT GWADAR PORT
- PAKISTAN’S GDP AND ECONOMY ARE GROWING THANKS TO GWADAR AND CPEC