BRI Forum and Pakistan

China has prepared a complete plan for economic development around the world with a comprehensive vision. The lucky aspect for us in this is that Pakistan is the country in which a project like CPEC has been started, and this is the only way for China to connect to the Indian Ocean and the Arabian Sea by road.

A way from China to Pakistan, Central Asia, Africa, and Europe will connect all these countries to a robust economic stream. That is why the arrival of the Chairman of China’s National Development and Reform Commission on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of CPEC in Pakistan showed the importance of this project for China. There is no doubt that CPEC is of utmost significance to Pakistan’s economic recovery. At that time, the idea of CPEC came from the fact that the BRI Forum is meeting in China this month, and its tenth anniversary has also arrived. The Belt and Road Initiative is a project planned to connect Asia, Europe, Africa, etc.

The important thing is that for the completion of this route, those countries also saw an extraordinary benefit in terms of building infrastructure, etc., through which goods are to be exported or imported. In August 2023, Chinese President Xi said: ” China will better harness its resources for cooperation with Africa and initiatives of businesses to support Africa in growing its manufacturing sector and realising industrialisation and economic diversification. This is a statement before the BRI forum meeting, which proves that China does not want to impose anything in the BRI forum and its discussion but wants to adopt the next strategy, keeping in mind the issues of other countries and their needs. At the time of the launch of the Belt and Road Initiative, the focus of the project was the restoration of the Silk Route and the construction of infrastructure in the countries connected to it to make transporting goods more effortless and cheaper.

After 10 years, valuable work has been done in infrastructure construction. After this meeting, BRI is expected to enter a new phase, and the industrialisation phase will be started through financing in developing countries. For Pakistan, this possible change will be of extraordinary importance because Pakistan has the potential to revive its economy based on industry. Still, for this, it needs a kickstart. If it gets kickstarted, the economy will also recover soon. And on the occasion of this BRI Forum, it is rightly expected that Pakistan will get a kick start. Pakistan and China will sign mous for more than 15 projects, including the ml-1 project of railways, on the occasion of the Belt and Road Forum. Caretaker Prime Minister Anwarul Haq Kakar will represent Pakistan at the 3rd Belt and Road Initiative Forum in Beijing on October 17 and 18. On the occasion of the forum, Pakistan and China will make a significant breakthrough in the second phase of CPEC.

Agreements for 11 infrastructure, energy and other projects will be signed. Various ministries and the Chinese Embassy have completed work on the working paper of these projects. It is also expected that the foreign offices of the two countries are in close contact and working together to organise the meeting of Chinese President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Anwarul Haq Kakar. Regarding this expected meeting, it is also being decided that announcements will also be made to further promote cooperation in various areas of CPEC.In Pakistan, work is going on in full swing during the meeting of Chinese President Xi with caretaker Prime Minister Anwarul Haq Kakar and in the second phase of this visit, ml-1, Thakot, industry, energy projects and other projects will be considered, and agreements will be signed. It is reported that Pakistan and China have agreed on financing the ML-1 project. It is of utmost importance that the agreement to start work on this project at the most crucial occasion, like the BRI Forum, will be a significant breakthrough. Because this project has been waiting a long time, it should be started as soon as possible. It has also been decided by the Chinese and Pakistani governments that MoUs have been prepared regarding various other projects.

The Ministry of Planning has prepared working papers with other concerned ministries and the Chinese Embassy for MoUs on various projects, which will be signed in the BRI Forum during the visit of caretaker Prime Minister Of Pakistan Anwarul Haq Kakar.