Pakistan Economy Watch lauds Pak’s stance over CPEC

The Pakistan Economy Watch (PEW) lauded the stance of the government over China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) after the US criticism terming it encouraging and according to the national interests.

The US should understand that Pakistan cannot abandon this most important regional project which has potential to turnaround our troubled economy, it said.

The American opposition to the CPEC will not remain confined to statements and she would do everything to reverse it for which Pakistan and China must be prepared, said Dr. Murtaza Mughal, President PEW.

He said that the latest US statement against CPEC has come at a time when President Trump was claiming that his country and Pakistan had never been so close as now that exposes duplicity in policies.

Dr. Murtaza Mughal said that Pakistan can never ditch China to please the US as both countries have a long history of helping each other in difficult times while handing over Gwadar Port to the US is out of question.

He added that CPEC will benefit Pakistani economy while China’s international trade will be facilitated which will add to the global influence of Beijing which is not acceptable to the US.

For the same reason handle like FATF is being used against Pakistan as it is an open secret that most of the dirty money finds refuge in the US and UK but FATF will never raise any objection about it, he observed.

Most of the dollars received through the US in the shape of grants and loans find their way back to the US leaving Pakistan in debt but China has never resorted to such expliotation, he said, adding that Chinese support to infrastructure projects in Pakisan are visible to everyone.

Pakistani and Chinese experts have agreed to develop a textile cooperation framework under China Pakistan Economic Cooperation (CPEC) by focusing on readymade garment exports and textile skill training. It was expressed in a one-day workshop organised by the Board of Investment (BOI) to deliberate on adiagnostic study on Pakistan’s textile sector, conducted by the National Development & Reform Commission (NDRC) of China and China International Engineering Consulting Corporation (CIECC).

The Textile Diagnostic report provided the Chinese viewpoints on the potentials and barriers of large-scale Textile Mills in Pakistan.

The report was also one of the deliverables of the 9th JCC held in 2019 and is a precursor to a more detailed work on the Textile Sector of Pakistan.

The workshop was attended by Executive Director General (EDG) of BOI, Qasim Raza Khan, Project Director of the Project Management Unit (PMU) BoI, Asim Ayub, Director SEZs BOI, Abdul Samie, Executive Director APTMA, Sattar Shahid, Director Textile Industry Division, Kanwar Usman, Chairman PRAGMEA, Shaikh Mohammad Shafiq, Head of Pak-China Investment Company, Tariq Masood and representatives from line ministries, private sector and academia

EDG BOI, Qasim Raza Khan informed the participants that CPEC has now entered into the pragmatic phase of Industrial cooperation, and it is the right time to take Pakistan forward on the path of industrialisation.  

It has been agreed that the Chinese side will continue to provide intellectual and technical support to accelerate Pakistan’s priority sectors especially through the 9 SEZs of Pakistan under CPEC wherein 03 SEZs have been prioritised and are now at an advanced stage of development, he added.

“The government is focused on bringing improvement in the key sector growth through inclusive growth in agriculture, industrial and services sectors,” said a statement by the Finance Division in response to certain news reports carried in a section of the regarding downward revision of growth by the World Bank.

Agencies