CPEC may regain pace after PM’s visit to Beijing

[Clutch]

CPEC may regain pace after PM’s visit to Beijing

Khaleeq KianiUpdated October 16, 2018
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Chinese Minister of International Department of Communist Party of China Song Tao calls on Prime Minister Imran Khan in Islamabad. ─ Photo courtesy Imran Khan

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan expects the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) to regain pace after a visit of Prime Minister Imran Khan to Beijing next month with the signing of a framework agreement on industrial zones, progress on agricultural cooperation and addition of a social sector joint working group.

A senior government official told Dawn on Monday that notwithstanding adverse commentary in the US and western media, the prime minister’s visit to China would reinvigorate the CPEC implementation that had slowed down over the past several months owing to political transition in Pakistan.

He said the progress would be visible during the visit as the two sides would formally ink a framework agreement on industrial zones and set in motion on-ground development of special economic zones (SEZs) starting with Rashakai near Peshawar in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The two sides would also formally sign documents to include Social Sector Joint Working Group of the Joint Coordination Council (JCC) of the CPEC. He said officials from the two governments were currently in the process of sharing final documents.

ARTICLE CONTINUES AFTER AD
The two sides have started initial consultations on cooperation in several sectors

The official said the two sides had started initial consultations on cooperation in the agriculture sector which was one of the key areas of the CPEC but could not see any progress in the past because the PML-N government had given top priority to energy and infrastructure sectors, followed by industrial and agricultural cooperation in that order.

A Chinese delegation led by M.A. Aiguo, Vice Minister for Agriculture and Rural Affairs, is currently visiting Pakistan to explore areas of mutual interest in the agriculture sector, considered by the two governments as key to employment generation and increase in crop output.

The delegation had a meeting with Privatisation Minister Khusro Bakhtiar on Monday and was given an overview of Pakistan’s agriculture sector that employed 45 per cent of manpower, contributed about 24pc to GDP, 20pc to total exports and provided livelihood to 64pc of the country’s rural population, a statement said.

Mr Khusro suggested to the delegation that Pak-China agricultural cooperation need to focus on the vertical increase in productivity of the existing crops, transfer of knowledge and technologies, seed and plant protection, as well as disease control, value addition and marketing of agri products, including dairy, livestock, and fisheries. The mutual cooperation should cover the whole basket of agri-sectors, he added.

He was of the opinion that a joint ventures in value addition, cold chain management for fruits and vegetables, marketing and branding would help Pakistan overcome the past weaknesses and increase its farm products’ export to China and other countries.

The statement quoted Mr Aiguo as saying that agricultural cooperation would set a new and important direction that should focus on areas as well as the level of cooperation and finalisation of specific plans. He said China was ready to share its expertise and successful agriculture models with Pakistan.

Both sides agreed to broaden agro-cooperation by adopting a comprehensive approach to fast track communication and implementation to tap potentials of the most important agriculture sector in Pakistan.

Separately, an official said the two sides agreed to sign a memorandum of understanding on the desire of Prime Minister Khan for creation of a joint working group for social sector development.

Pakistan expects China to share its experience in poverty reduction through small-scale businesses and social sector development and provide grants and concessional loans for low-cost housing, education and health facilities.

The two sides had agreed on development of nine special economic zones about a year ago in the four provinces, Azad Jammu & Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan and the tribal region but were unable to formally sign a specific framework agreement on industrial cooperation in the run-up to the 2018 general elections.

The framework agreement would enable the two sides to go into details of relocation of Chinese industries to these SEZs and how Pakistan’s domestic industry benefits from the Chinese relocation, instead of crippling it as feared by leading businessmen.

The PTI government now wants at least four SEZs to enter ground-breaking phase over the next three to four months.

Published in Dawn, October 16th, 2018

 

[Path-Finder]

The way things are going, CPEC may get halted with this beggar Prime Minister.

what was "qarz utaro mulk sanwaro"?

 

[Hakikat ve Hikmet]

For a project with the status and magnitude of CPEC, no ambiguities should remain the minds of the relevant folks!!! A good initiative especially from the financial perspective!!! As for the strategic part, the least said the better...

 

[war&peace]

The way things are going, CPEC may get halted with this beggar Prime Minister.

Now gather your ashes and leave...

 

[Indus Pakistan]

The way things are going, CPEC may get halted with this beggar Prime Minister.

Another Indian !

 

[war&peace]

Another Indian !

just report him. He is creating anti Pakistan threads and posts...a false flagger rat.

 

[tarrar]

The contracts needs to be reviewed, which are getting reviewed & all contracts should be resigned & all of them should be made public as none of the contracts were made public by ganja league which is a clear indication that they were truly committing corruption & unethical moves were there.

Best of luck PM Imran, hopefully this visit will be fruitful for Pakistan.

 

[Chakar The Great]

Surely it will.

 

[Foxtrot Delta]

Pace was never lost projects under consc are still under work. Those which had not started, were and are being reviewed for maximum impact and less burden on economy.

 

[Yankee-stani]

Folks like @Foxtrot Delta give me hope that Not all Pakistani are brain dead reactionary on fourms who complain when propaganda trolls derail CPEC and BRI

 

[Foxtrot Delta]

Folks like @Foxtrot Delta give me hope that Not all Pakistani are brain dead reactionary on fourms who complain when propaganda trolls derail CPEC and BRI

Thanks buddy just keeping it real. Being a kashmiri i consider pakistan my home and pakistaniz my family. One doesn't like to see public opnion changed via outsiders. Internet is a very effective propaganda machine. We all gotta put in effort when we can.

 

[Yankee-stani]

Dude as someone who lives in the diaspora most of us are near brain dead when it comes to China and Pakistan relationship I met American Pakiz having a fit over the Uighur bs and the internet is great propaganda tool by both left and right wing trolls

 

[Foxtrot Delta]

Dude as someone who lives in the diaspora most of us are near brain dead when it comes to China and Pakistan relationship I met American Pakiz having a fit over the Uighur bs and the internet is great propaganda tool by both left and right wing trolls

I was in urumqi xinjiang for 3 years. If u are an ordinary citizen and don't break the law (chinese law is extensive and very harsh) u will be just fine. Jew christian or muslim. Han hui uyghur mongol doesnt matter. I always advised my uyghur frirnds not to get involved in politics enjoy the boons of chinese economy and oppertunities they have equal rights all over china. And even when one china policy was harshly imolimented uyghur and muslims were exempted from it. Thats shows chinese government ain't loons making trouble for local muslims.

After arabian pensula china was the second nation to have muslim people living in it in 650 AD. Islam came to india pakistan way later i think 70 years later. India pakistan have no sahabi or ghazwa fighters people close to Holy Prophet PBUH. While china has Prophet Mohammad's(PBUH) Uncle and a few ghazwa fighters barried in guangzhou city. One fo the First languages after arabic to have quran translated into is chinese language. Quran Held Holy respected book of china title for more than 6 centuries. Muslim rulers emperors and arky gernerals were part of china earleir than most nations. So chinese have had muslims since 1400 years now. Muslim card is beung played against china now. Xinjiang was a seperate state like tibet and kashmir . first russians took xinjiang later chinese took it. In recent history. It basically depends on people of a state to decide where their allegnces are.

Religious extremism or muslim card has nothng to do with xinjiang problem. Some people just want china to be weak and want internal enemies with in china so that those some people can always rule with no one able to challenge them.

No one can take xinjiang or taiwan from china that i am sure. Chinese even though are 57 nations in one country they identify thselves as 中国人. Chinese citizens. Chinese id and passport is very strong and reputable world wide. 21st century is chinese century chill enjoy the tide be Chinese muslims!! muslim is a muslim chinese russian american british african arab Indian or pakistani . Muslim just needs 1 identity
لَا إِلٰهَ إِلَّا ٱلله مُحَمَّدٌ رَسُولُ ٱلله

Let china and Chinese muslims have peace. I never saw any uyghur in trouble when i was in urumqi unless they were stealing wallets or picking fights with han Chinese for flirting with uyghur women.

This i think is common problem can happen anywhere.

 

[Yankee-stani]

I always advised my uyghur frirnds not to get involved in politics enjoy the boons of chinese economy and oppertunities they have equal rights all over china. And even when one china policy was harshly imolimented uyghur and muslims were exempted from it. Thats shows chinese government ain't loons making trouble for local muslims.

Religious extremism or muslim card has nothng to do with xinjiang problem. Some people just want china to be weak and want internal enemies with in china so that those some people can always rule with no one able to challenge them.

Let china and Chinese muslims have peace. I never saw any uyghur in trouble when i was in urumqi unless they were stealing wallets or picking fights with han Chinese for flirting with uyghur women.

This i think is common problem can happen anywhere.[/QUOTE]


Well I agree wasting on politics in a Anti-State is waste of time and causes chaos which geo-political rivals want in China and the region and correct they were given more lenient policies when One-Child Policy was in effect up until now.Religious Extremism thanks to the Gulf Arabs and Petro Arabs since the 1970s has caused many Muslim countries to go backward I hope one day they get the taste of their own medicine hopefully the Khashogi case is "the camel that breaks its back" moment ,Our Pakistani nation has been ruined by their ideology and as a result we lost 3 decades of improvement and change.China is right in controlling elements of radical ideologies in Xinjiang no need for another Dagestan or Checenya what we saw in the 1990s and the early 2000s

 

[Cybernetics]

Folks like @Foxtrot Delta give me hope that Not all Pakistani are brain dead reactionary on fourms who complain when propaganda trolls derail CPEC and BRI

Dude as someone who lives in the diaspora most of us are near brain dead when it comes to China and Pakistan relationship I met American Pakiz having a fit over the Uighur bs and the internet is great propaganda tool by both left and right wing trolls

That is because @Foxtrot Delta has first hand experience and is well traveled. Most other people parrot what their community and media tells them. Most don't have the patience, time of day, or intellect to stop and think. There is a saying in Chinese “读万卷书，走万里路” the literal translation is "read 10,000 books, walk 10,000 miles". It basically means read/learn as much as you can and travel/do as much as you can. A person who's only window to the world is second hand and theories can easily become out of touch with reality and has limited understanding. A person needs to not only learn but also contribute positively to this world through action. For me personally I feel, the combination of doing, travelling and reading produces a much different (better) result compared to just experiencing the world through the second or third hand perspective. The world will seem different, nuances in the world makes a big difference but many will prefer a simple world view out of ease.

Even though we don't like to think of ourselves as "useful idiots" in many cases due to the persuasion of media, many become that unknowingly. No one is free from the effects of media, as it is one of our windows to the world but we can lessen the affects of propaganda through a more holistic approach to life. This is the reality we have to deal with.

America is building China's image up as America's next great enemy, different narratives would align and it would seemly make sense to the locals and others. China doesn't have much influence over that in the short run thus as I've said before, China needs to have hard power to defeat any threats in case narratives fuel reality. Not that it is preferred but more of a necessity.

For some Han Chinese that I have talked to, they feel the opposite to what foreign media tells them. They think there is affirmative action in favor of minority groups and they are correct in many instances. This makes them feel foreign media attacks on this topic are even more despicable but this is not understood outside of China thus a harsh reaction from the grassroots might come as a surprise.