It was appropriate the CPEC 2.00 was launched at the B2B Investment Conference in Beijing, with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif as chief guest, where Chinese businesses hooked up with Pakistani to mark the new phase of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, where it should play the really transformative role for Pakistan, and even China, that its conceivers envisaged. The new phase of CPEC reflects the shifting from being primarily a government-to-government and business-to-government interaction to one in which businesses interact with other businesses. This became clear from the 21 different MoUs and joint ventures signed at the conference, worth $8.5 billion. They covered agriculture, electric vehicles, solar energy, health, chemical and petrochemicals, and iron and steel. This shows how CPEC is moving beyond its original brief of fixing the infrastructure of Pakistan.
CPEC is designed so that there is a smooth passage from Gwadar Port of goods and raw materials from China through Pakistan. CPEC would not just be served by roads and rail, and the port, but by Special Economic Zones, where goods for export would be manufactured. The MoUs and JVs will activate these SEZs, with the upgradation of the railway main line from Karachi to Peshawar as the focus of the infrastructure component of the next phase of CPEC. However, the fu;; fruits and true benefits of CPEC will only be realized by the success of these B2B ventures, because CPEC was never really meant to be G2G, unlike such ventures as the Heavy Mechanical Complex. Now that Pakistan has been helped to overcome its electricity generation and road development issues, it is time for the next phase of CPEC to take off, as China and Pakistan demonstrate that they are indeed iron brothers/
Though CPEC has been multiply beneficial, not just for the two governments but the businesses involved (not to mention the millions of electricity consumers of Pakistan), it has faced a number of glitches. Mr Sharif addressed these issues at the conference, especially by assuring the investors, both prospective and existing, of security for Chinese workers. It is a striking phase of the first phase of CPEC. which is presumably to continue into the next, that Chinese firms have sent their employees to work in Pakistan instead of trying to manage matters from afar. It is not just the demand of hospitality, but also good business, to ensure their safety.
