Since the launch of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) in 2015, as many as 43 projects worth around $24.703 billion have been completed while another eight projects of $759.56 million are currently being implemented.
The Ministry of Planning, Development, and Special Initiatives placed these figures before the Parliament this week in response to a question by Tahira Aurangzeb during the Question Hour.
Interestingly, Pakistan’s caretaker Prime Minister Anwar ul Haq Kakar told a Belt and Road Forum in Beijing in October 2023 that more than 50 projects worth $25 billion under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), had been completed.
The ministry informed the House that two ongoing projects were in Balochistan, two in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, one each in Sindh, Punjab, and Islamabad, and one all over Pakistan.
The two projects in Balochistan include the Infrastructure of Gwadar Free Zone Phase-II with a mode of FDI and the Bostan Special Economic Zone with a mode of public-private partnership (PPP).
The two KP projects include the Rashaki Special Economic Zone with a mode of FDI/ PPP of $146 million and the Maintenance and Renovation of 50 Schools in Newly Merged Districts with a grant of Rs15.7 million.
The project of the Sindh Dhabeji Special Economic Zone is going on with a mode of private investment/ PPP of $27 million.
The project of Punjab is about Allama Iqbal Industrial City (AIIC) with ADP assistance worth $160 million. The project of Islamabad is Bacerial Grass (Juncao) Training and Promotion Project with a grant of $3.66 million. The project of Rehabilitation and Reconstruction of flood-affected Infrastructure in all over Pakistan is going on with a grant of $116 million.
In response to another question about the Gwadar Port, the Parliamentary Secretary for Planning, Development, and Special Initiatives Wajiha Qamar informed the National Assembly that the port was operational, and equipped to handle general cargo, containers, and other operations.
She said the port can accommodate vessels of up to 50,000 DWT (deadweight) with the requisite infrastructure to support bulk cargo and container handling efficiently – Qamar said multiple shipments under the Afghanistan-Pakistan Transit Trade Agreement have been successfully processed.
A comparison of the two figures – given to the National Assembly on December 11 and those stated by then PM Kakar in Beijing – suggests that China has yet to make any fresh financial commitment to new projects under CPEC. This amounts to a literal freeze on fresh CPEC investments.
Officials from both sides privately concede that foreign exchange repatriation and power sector circular debt owed to Chinese IPPs are the major roadblocks to new financial commitments.
