Win-win B2B (Business-to-Business) cooperation and enhanced P2P (People-to-People) contacts should follow the foundational G2G (Government-to-Government) phase of China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) to take the historic megadevelopment project to the next level.

These views were shared by Yao Jing, the ambassador of People’s Republic of China to Pakistan, who was speaking at a seminar ‘CPEC 2015-2019: Achievements, Challenges and the Way Forward’ which was jointly organised by Institute of Policy Studies (IPS), Islamabad, CPEC Economic Forum and Pakistan Institute of Management (PIM).

The seminar also marked the fourth anniversary of CPEC agreement between China and Pakistan (April 20, 2015). The Chinese ambassador in his keynote speech said that as many as 26 new CPEC initiatives were on the way as well. The focus of new CPEC investments will shift from G2G interactions to B2B and P2P cooperation, eventually encouraging the private sector investors from both the countries to play their part especially in the areas of industrial and social development, he added.

The CPEC long-term cooperation plan launched in Islamabad on Dec.18, 2017. Ahsan Iqbal, Pakistan’s Minister of Planning and Development and Yao Jing, Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan attended the launching ceremony.

The energy projects under CPEC have contributed to a GDP increase of about 1 per cent in Pakistan so far but the real dividends of the mega project will unfold with time, eventually helping in releasing economic pressures on Pakistan considerably, he claimed.

He said that all the developments that were taking place as part of CPEC show the trust and confidence of both countries on each other as it is the only bilateral initiative taken by the Chinese government whereas all other ventures undertaken under BRI were multilateral.

News Network International