This post includes a CSS Essay on the topic ‘The CPEC is Expected to Transform Positively the Whole Socio-economic Condition of Pakistan’.
Let’s start the CSS Essay with the outline:
Outline
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Introduction
a) Xi Jinping’s dream
b) CPEC: “One Belt and One Road” (BOR) project
c) The highest FDI in the history of Pakistan
d) Thesis statement
2. Positive Transformation of the Whole Socio-economic Condition of Pakistan
a) Pakistan as a transit door
b) Solution to the energy crisis
c) Industrial revival
d) Multiple job opportunities
e) Infrastructural development
f) Agricultural development
g) Regional connectivity
h) Social development
3. Conclusion
Introduction
“I feel as if I am going to visit the home of my own brother” are the exact words of Xi Jinping, the Chinese President, during his historic 2015 visit to Pakistan, announcing the flagship project. The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor or better to say the CPEC is part of the “One Road, One Belt” initiative of the same Chinese President, Xi Jinping, launched to establish close land and maritime links between 60 plus countries across Asia and Europe.
The motivation force behind this project is prosperity rather than the preservation of power. China’s President during that visit brought with him a Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) amounting to $46 billion by signing 51 memoranda of understanding (MOUs) and this is the highest-ever, FDI in the history of Pakistan. Out of this amount, $32 billion was for the energy sector, and the rest $14 billion was for the construction of the CPEC and the establishment of the economic zones.
This agreement is expected to positively impact the socioeconomic condition of Pakistan. Firstly, it will transform Pakistan into a transit corridor due to commendable projects to be completed under the umbrella of the CPEC agreement. Secondly, the energy crisis will be tackled through this agreement. Thirdly, industrial revival is expected to initiate with his billion-dollar project creating multiple jobs in different sectors e.g., automobile, hoteling, etc., and cutting unemployment in the country.
Fourthly, infrastructure development is another fruit of this precious project developing roads, train subways, etc. which further develops the agricultural sector of the country. Lastly, regional connectivity and ultimate social development are other benefits of this mega project.
(Thesis Statement) Thus, the CPEC is a project of China in Pakistan that is expected to have multiple socio-economic benefits for Pakistan like making the country a transit door, solving energy problems, developing infrastructure reviving industries, declining unemployment, and developing agriculture and thus contributing to overall social development.
The coming discourse is going to elaborate in detail on the expected positive socio-economic impacts of the CPEC project in different sectors.
Positive Transformation of the Whole Socio-economic Condition of Pakistan
To begin with, Pakistan is likely to become a transit corridor due to a number of commendable projects to be completed under the CPEC. These projects include bullet trains, the construction of an international airport at Gwadar, and a good number of dry ports. The former minister of Planning and Development, Mr. Ahsan Iqbal, expressed his views: “The Central Asian republics, Iran and India would also become a part of it. If such plans materialize, it will transform Pakistan into an economic corridor, where the world’s second-biggest economy China will permanently become dependent on the transit route of Pakistan and it will conduct trade of at least, $400 billion via this route. Hence, Pakistan’s role as a transit corridor will become critical.
Furthermore, CPEC will help to tackle the energy crunch. Out of $46 billion, $32 billion is for investment in the power sectors. Approximately, 10,300 MW are for the investment in the national grid, while $9 billion are for two projects in nuclear civil-energy technology named KANUPP-II and KANUPP-III. There is hope that these two projects will generate 2,200 MW of electricity after completion. In addition, Asia’s biggest solar park, Quaid-e Azam Solar Park, is underway in Bahawalpur and is going to generate 1,100 MW of electricity. In the hydel sector, the Sukki Kinari hydropower project will generate 840 MW of electricity. If these plans materialize, they will solve the acute energy shortage in Pakistan.
Along with this, there is a hope that CPEC will revive the industry in Pakistan. Under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) agreements, there are proposals for several projects to improve the industrial sector of Pakistan. It will provide the opportunity for successful industrial development that leads to socio-economic development in Pakistan. It will also help in earning huge foreign exchange reserves by installing new industries in newly created industrial economic zones in different areas of Pakistan. Industrial Park Pakistan Steel Mills Port Qasim, Allama Iqbal Industrial City, Faisalabad, ICT Model Industrial Zone, Islamabad, and Dhabeji Industrial Zone are some of the industrial projects. Thus, the implementation of these plans will help to revive the industry in Pakistan.
Moreover, the CPEC is going to create multiple job opportunities in different sectors such as automobile, mechanical, hoteling, security, etc. This development will bring 0.8 million jobs, drastically cutting down the prevalent unemployment in the country. The former minister for Planning and Development, Mr. Ahsan Iqbal, stated that “CPEC would be a great impetus for the production sectors in the country that would result in immense employment opportunities. Further, it would generate more than $20 billion annually, and would likely change the economic fortune of Pakistan.”
Taking this into account, it is evident that the CPEC is going to be a game-changer for job creation. In addition, infrastructure development is another remarkable result of the CPEC project. According to Wang Wenbin, Spokesperson of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, some of the projects completed under CPEC have resulted in infrastructural advancement in Pakistan. For instance, it’s thanks to CPEC that the Orange Line Metro Train (OLMT) in Lahore, Pakistan was completed. It is worth noting that this Metro Line is the first electric-powered public transport project in Pakistan marking the beginning of the subway era for Pakistan.
A vast network of roads and the construction of economic zones mark infrastructure development. DG Frontier Work Organization, Major General Muhammad Afzal, explained that they have completed 556 kilometers of the total 870-kilometer road network in Baluchistan. That is why infrastructure development is a fruit of the CPEC. Apart from this, the development of the agricultural sector of Pakistan is another positive outcome of the CPEC. To finalize a long-term plan for agricultural cooperation which spans from 2025 to 2030, a summit of CPEC was in Islamabad in August 2016.
The plan included different categories related to agricultural production i.e., livestock, water resources for irrigation, lively hood, public communication projects, and solution for financial matters related to agricultural production needs. This project will help to enhance the exchange of information required, distribution of agricultural products and equipment, share information related to the mechanism of agricultural tools and their usage, facilitate people for leasing of machinery required, and also the production of different types of fertilizers for the increase of production capacity.
There is hope to produce approximately 800000 tons of bioorganic fertilizers which will enhance the production capacity in a very positive direction and will help to push forward the GDP ratio. Thus, the agricultural sector development will prove a benefit of the CPEC.
Another major benefit of the CPEC is the fact that it has brought about regional connectivity. Thanks to CPEC, a lot of work is ongoing at the Special Economic Zones (SEZs), Gwadar Port, and many social development programs. It is a matter of fact that transit trade through Gwadar is a major step towards regional connectivity. Until recently, Afghanistan is now importing food such as wheat, sugar, and other important items through the Gwadar Port. As far back as early 2020, the Gwadar port had started shipping cargo weighing as much as 20,000 tons to Afghanistan. To be curt, this regional connectivity is the expected positive socio-economic result of the CPEC.
Conclusion
Lastly, The CPEC project has also brought about significant social development in Pakistan. So far, China has invested an estimated $300 million on major projects in 2020 alone. Out of this sum, $100 million is for improving the agricultural sector. A further $100 million is for investment in sectors such as housing and healthcare in a bid to meet the basic needs of the entire population.
According to the Ministry of Planning, Development & Social Initiatives, some completed projects under CPEC include Vaccine storage and transportation equipment, Poverty Alleviation Training, Emergency relief supplies for enhancing NDMA, disaster preparedness capacity, Pakistan Vocational, and Technical Education Capacity build-up project, and Pakistan Vocational Schools equipment Upgrading and Renovation Project. To conclude it is right to say that China Pakistan Economic Corridor is a mega project that is a game-changer for Pakistan and China.
There is hope that prosperity and economic development will become the fate of Pakistan. It will prove as a win-win project for both countries if the governments complete this proposed and planned project in time and in a peaceful way. CPEC will also improve the socio-economic conditions of residents of Pakistan by covering the energy crises and providing them much more job opportunities in different fields which will improve trade and business activities which will further increase per capita income and hence poverty and this will minimize unemployment to some great extent.
It will improve the standard of living by making access for remote areas people to health centers, education centers, banking, etc. That’s why it would not be wrong to say that CPEC is going to play the role of a fate-changer for Pakistan. For Pakistan, the project of CPEC is no less than a hen that lays golden eggs. It can prove itself as a game-changer project for Pakistan only if we can complete it safely, soundly, and in the proposed way.
Besides benefits and positive signs, there are some threats and hurdles in the way to complete this mega project too as security threats, corruption, unfair allocation of funds, internal political conflicts and intimidation, and terror campaigns in some provinces. So, the government should work for the successful completion of this mega project while keeping in mind the national interest, not individual or parties’ interests.
