Abstract
China and Pakistan advocate long-term friendly relations - regardless of ideological differences. There is hope that the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) will strengthen the bilateral links between China and Pakistan by connecting Gwadar Port with Xinjiang Province China. Therefore, the development of the energy sector, road and railway infrastructure will impact progress of Pakistan, but the results will not mature overnight. Still there are many challenges facing Pakistan, financial ambiguity, inappropriate expectations, provincial competition and confrontation with special economic zones, internal security, cultural concerns, useless debt burden, development priorities, excessive domestic supplies, raw materials and import of labor and the lack of income-generating plans lead to serious questions and concerns for this project. This paper focuses on the CPEC flagship project under the mega One Belt One Road (OBOR) initiative. It is not only the corridor in which Pakistan wants to change its economy, but also the project may undermine its financial and social structure. The paper also discusses economic cooperation between China and Pakistan, as well as China’s investment in Pakistan’s infrastructural growth and economic development.
Presenters
Muhammad Sabil FarooqResearch Associate, Social Science, Nankai University, Tianjin, China
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
CPEC; China-Pakistan; OBOR; Challenges and opportunities; Economic development
