China-Pakistan Economic Corridor: What the whole world is suspecting, has now been confirmed by Pakistan’s own economist. Earlier it was being told that China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) will change the fate of Pakistan. Whereas Pakistan’s well-known economist Dr. Qaiser Bengali exposed this and said that no significant investment came under this project. Gwadar Port is also not providing any benefit economically, although it was once described as the ‘heart’ of this plan.
CPEC could not become a gamechanger
In a podcast conversation with a Pakistani journalist, he even said that Pakistan’s economy is sinking day by day. Qaiser Bengali says, “First CPEC was being called a game-changer. Then SIFC, Green Initiative, Udaan Pakistan and now Minerals. These are just words. They have no real results.
Billions of dollars were spent in making it
CPEC was launched in 2013 with an initial investment plan of $46.5 billion. Later, as more projects were added over time, the plan was increased to $62 billion. However, now economists claim that no big investment has actually come. He said, “Apart from Lahore’s Orange Train, I don’t see anything else concrete under CPEC.” When asked whether the billions of dollars promised under CPEC were loans or investments? he said, “It was a mix of both, but nothing actually came.” Many MOUs were signed, but MOUs are not agreements – it is just a statement of intent, not an agreement.
What is CPEC?
Let us tell you that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) starts from Xinjiang in China and passes through the Khunjerab Pass in Northern Pakistan and reaches Gwadar Port in Balochistan. The purpose of making it was to strengthen the transportation network between the two countries so that investment opportunities in Pakistan also increase, infrastructure is strengthened, economic development is accelerated, and it helps in overcoming the energy crisis, but in reality nothing concrete has emerged. Dr. Bengali has even called it a ‘ghost path’.
What is the problem with Gwadar?
Kaiser Bengali said that there are still only four berths at Gwadar Port and no ships arrived last year. He told that when he was in Balochistan, he had gone to Gwadar, then the port gate was locked with a lock like a small suitcase and the guard had gone to his village.
Bengali, who has been an advisor to the Sindh Chief Minister, said Gwadar cannot become a transit or trade hub because its economic hinterland is more than 1,000 kilometers away. Stating the reality, he said, “We had imported three ships of wheat in 2008 just to prove that Gwadar was alive. Whereas there was no need for it in Gwadar. Then the wheat was brought from Gwadar to Karachi and Rs 2 billion was spent just in taking it to Karachi. If the goods had been unloaded directly in Karachi, Rs 2 billion would have been saved.”
The economist said that Gwadar is not economically feasible and this port can be possible only if it is connected to Lokandi and Helmand in Afghanistan and a special Afghan transit corridor is created. Till then, Gwadar may not be economically profitable. But looking at the current situation with Afghanistan, now this country does not want to import anything through Pakistan. Afghanistan now prefers Chabahar and the railway link between Chabahar and Afghanistan has been completed.
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