China wants an economically stable Pakistan but does the Coronavirus?

The Coronavirus epidemic has spread globally like wildfire and while efforts to curb the spread have long been underway, the spread is unlikely to halt in the foreseeable future. Pakistan, surprisingly, has not confirmed a single case of the virus yet, but the economy’s expansion plans via the Belt and Road initiative face significant delays due to bordering nations.

With fears of the virus encompassing the entire population, the government has shut down the Iran border due to the confirmed cases and deaths of the virus in Iran. While we attempt to block the entry gates, what happens when a case is inevitably confirmed in Pakistan? With 50 deaths already confirmed in Iran, questions have been raised if Pakistan must reassess its approach in a bid to escape the slippery slope of an unstable economy.

While, it is no secret that Pakistan relies on its all-weather ally for a significant amount of its raw material, intermediate and capital good needs, a meeting between the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) and the Commercial Counselor, Beijing analyzed and assessed the risks involved. Deliberations were made on potential supply chain bottlenecks and global trade trends. The issue of shipment delays was addressed and concluded that barring Hubei Province, shipment timelines would be restored in the next week according to the counselor.

Furthermore, the Secretary of TDAP, Mr. Muhammad Sualeh Ahmed Faruqui ensured the parties that adequate stock of intermediate goods was at hand and that monitoring and evaluation processes were being installed to assess future risk.

For the foreseeable future, even with perfect mechanisms in place, business activity between the two partners is set to suffer setbacks and the real implication will be felt once the first official case of the Coronavirus outbreak is confirmed in Pakistan.