Few years ago, when the CPEC was starting out, the stakeholders’ and observers’ understanding of it was akin to the all too familiar story of the seven blind men trying to figure out how an elephant looks like. While the story might still be relevant for some stakeholders’, media discourse and long list of conferences and presentations brought about a much clearer understanding of CPEC is, of which perhaps the biggest realisation is that the CPEC is at least not a white elephant.
Back then, we now know that Anglo-Saxon investors thought the project wouldn’t ever kick off. American diplomats in Pakistan wrote back sceptical views to Washington. Now they are eager to join the CPEC, with at least a dozen American firms expressing interest to pour FDI in the country. This mirrors the sentiments of everyone and their aunties who also want to the join. Don’t be surprised if tomorrow Nauru, that small island country in the Pacific, also expresses desire to “join the CPEC”.
However, despite all the noise over lack of transparency that government had to face, it appears it still hasn’t completely learnt the lesson. Recall how sentiments over external account concerns eased after the government released financing details. Recall also how business concerns were eventually allayed when official documents related to SEZs were released, which showed that SEZs will not be the exclusive right of the Chinese.
Still, to date there isn’t any fully functioning government organisation that periodically updates stakeholders as and when a milestone is achieved, or a stumbling block faced. There is a certain Planning Commission on CPEC, and some of the project updates are timely, but many others aren’t. For instance, Hoshab-Surab highway is complete, but for stakeholders who follow the commission’s website.
In some cases, media organisations or think tanks have got a scoop to find out the latest update, rather than such updates being updated on a timely basis. One example is the recent scoop by Prime Institute whose latest CPEC Monitor informs that 55 percent of the fibre optic from China has already been laid, and the remaining part of the project is expected to be completed by the end of December this year.
Similarly, progress by the CPEC Centre of Excellence has been slow. To date, it doesn’t have any major publication to offer under any of its themes. The central bank is not different. In October last year, this column asked the SBP whether it plans to have a dedicated CPEC chapter in each of its annual/quarterly State of Economy reports, given the project’s importance for Pakistan economy and the lack of information on the matter. Their answer: “SBP reports are already discussing different aspects of CPEC. However, a dedicated chapter is also not ruled out in some future report.” No such chapters have been made a recurring feature so far.
Anyway, the good thing is that the private sector has become active; well at least a little active. The FPCCI and the KCCI recently released reports on CPEC, albeit they don’t have monthly bulletin of sorts that tracks progress update and answers or reflects on the growing number of queries and concerns about various aspects of the CPEC.
Perhaps, Pakistan’s chambers and business lobby groups are waiting for some donor funding to start producing such knowledge products. They should take a cue from Dr. Ijaz Gilani of Gallup Pakistan who has taken the initiative of setting up a CPEC study circle that meets every month and discusses various domestic and international aspects of the CPEC. Such efforts should be replicated elsewhere in the business circles across the country.
The CPEC isn’t going anywhere. With One Belt One Road initiative now being written into Chinese’ constitution, and President Xi gaining uber-importance in the recent CCP moot, the risks to CPEC have been reduced. Both the private sector and government should learn how to tango; otherwise the blind men story will remain relevant for every other aspect of the CPEC in the ensuing years.
Comments
Comments are closed.