PESHAWAR: The Pakistan Business Forum (PBF) has lauded the initiative of China and Pakistan to agree under Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative, signing a much delayed key deal to construct a multibillion dollar railway project.
Talking to media on Sunday, PBF KP Chairman, Muhammad Ashafque Paracha said ML-1, railway project is designed to connect Pakistan’s northwestern city of Peshawar to the southern port city of Karachi through a more than 2,600 kilometer track and it’s one of biggest single project under the CPEC and is central to it. This project designed to connect Pakistan’s northwestern city of Peshawar to the southern port city of Karachi through a more than 2,600 kilometer track with a price tag of $7 billion. This project connects Xinjiang with Gwadar port and will unlock the access of Xinjiang to the warm waters to give it access to markets of the Middle East and Europe,” Paracha said. “The ML-1 will be the key driving force and catalyst in the next phase of CPEC projects as its execution will help boost Pakistan’s local industry, such as steel, cement and other local manufacturing,” he added.
However, PBF is expected to take 10 years minimum and increase the line capacity from 34 to 134 trains each way per day, moving up to 165 kilometers per hour - twice as fast as they currently run.
PBF KP Chairman said CPEC had played a “crucial role in generating new economic opportunities” in Pakistan since it was launched a decade ago. According to PBF, CPEC has created 200,000 jobs, built more than 1,400 kilometers of highways and roads, and added thousands of megawatts of electricity to the national grid, effectively ending years of power outages in the country of about 241 million people. According to officials, the port of Gwadar has handled 600,000 tons of cargo in the last 18 months.
PBF Regional President Peshawar, Danial Ahmed further said a new international airport China is building in Gwadar would soon be inaugurated, turning it into a hub of regional trade and connectivity. He added that CPEC energy projects have injected at least 8,000 megawatts of electricity into Pakistan’s national grid, and nearly 10,000 megawatts of additional and clean energy projects are expected to be completed within the next five years. The CPEC is building industrial zones to attract local and Chinese investors, enabling cash strapped Pakistan to increase its exports and boost its foreign exchange reserves.
Similarly, Pakistan’s mineral-rich southwestern province of Baluchistan, which hosts Gwadar, has seen significant CPEC related investments despite a years-long ethnic Baluch separatist insurgency. Although China’s BRI investments have led to the construction of much
needed infrastructure
in Pakistan. One must understand Gwadar Port has seen major progress and is marching towards the goal of becoming a logistics center and industrial base; he added.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
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