CPEC Impact on Balochistan Economy
- September 26, 2018
- Posted by: RSIS
- Category: Social Science
International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume II, Issue IX, September 2018 | ISSN 2454–6186
CPEC Impact on Balochistan Economy
Muhammad Kamran Taj1*, Zhang Liang2, Umbreen Zafar1
1Center for Advance Studies in Vaccinology and Biotechnology, University of Balochistan, Quetta.
2Embassy of the Peoples Republic of China in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
Corresponding Author: Muhammad Kamran Taj*
I. INTRODUCTION
CPEC was a collection of infrastructure projects that are currently under construction throughout Pakistan. Originally valued at $46 billion, the value of CPEC projects is now worth $62 billion. That connected Xinjiang Province to the Gwadar Port city in Pakistan (Ali, 2016). CPEC was intended to rapidly modernize Pakistani infrastructure and strengthen its economy by the construction of modern transportation networks, numerous energy projects, and special economic zones (Hussain & Tom 2015; Kiani & Khaleeq 2016).
The CPEC is one of the signature elements and the “first stop” of China’s pivot to the West under the “One Belt, One Road” (OBOR) mega project. The OBOR project, which Beijing announced in 2013, envisions a series of trade linkages, one overland and one maritime, that was connect China westwards to the rest of Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Europe (Capital, 2015). The CPEC, which was unveiled by Islamabad and Beijing earlier, in 2013, is a 45.6 billion USD offshoot that was stretch 3,000 kilometers from China’s restive Xinjiang through Pakistan towards its terminus at Gwadar Port, in Balochistan Province. The CPEC is envisaged as a series of commingling projects that was comprise Chinese investments in Pakistan’s transport infrastructure, including roads, airports, and ports, energy economy, and information technology sector (Special, 2016).
The progress on Gwadar Port had been the most significant development task in recent years. Once developed, the port would be a game changer for the province, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor was open up new avenues of opportunities for the people of Balochistan. It is envisioned that Gwadar would be transformed into an economic hub and was subsequently contribute towards the development of the whole province, resulting in addressing the various economic and social problems of Balochistan.
