Economic goals prevail in Prime Minister's visit to China
Editor's Note: The article only reflects the opinion of the author and not necessarily of Gwadar Pro.
Pakistan's economy is currently under severe pressure. When the economy has to suffer, its inevitable effects have to be borne by everyone. CPEC, the biggest economic program in the history of Pakistan, if conducted at a fixed speed, would have improved the national economy a lot. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is visiting China to make sure that CPEC will be implemented at a fast pace.
In this regard, the economic team under the leadership of Finance Minister Ishaq Dar was instructed to prepare all proposals in a short time, and it is reported that recommendations have been prepared regarding current economic programs, which will be the focus of the discussion with the Chinese leadership.
High-speed transport facilities are of primary importance for economic growth, thus, the rehabilitation of railways was the key in the 1st phase of CPEC. The ML-1 project was launched for the purpose of rehabilitating railways. But this project could not be constructed at the planned pace because the Pakistani side did not give it the attention it deserved. It is believed that there will be some concrete progress regarding this project and a strategy will be formulated to reduce the burden of increased cost of ML-1.
Apart from this, Pakistan faced obstacles caused by energy crisis again and again. Due to the energy crisis, the economic development received an extraordinary setback. While one solution is to supply cheaper gas and oil, the other sustainable solution is to promote green energies such as solar energy. That's why solar energy has been kept as a main target during this visit and a plan has been made to generate 10,000 megawatts of electricity through solar energy. With the completion of 10,000 megawatts solar project, it will be possible to meet the energy shortage at a cheaper price.
The main point of this visit is not only to promote solar energy but also to take advantages of other resources available in Pakistan. For this, Thar coal has an extraordinary value and has been included in the agenda. In addition, Gwadar coal project is a big project. Turning this project into another Thar coal project is Pakistan's basic demand and will be discussed during the visit. In addition, Kohala Hydropower Project, Azad Patan Project, Electricity Meter Project an Hub Gwadar Transmission Line Project are expected to meet great progress after the visit.
There are various MoUs that will be signed. If we look at the map, we will understand the importance of these MoUs. The future construction of various important highways will connect the economic activities of Pakistan and the entire region. The MoUs include Babusar Tunnel, Karachi-Hyderabad Motorway, Mansehra-Muzaffarabad Road and Sago-Yub Road.
In order to meet Pakistan's LNG requirements in this critical period, a plan has been made to procure LNG from China to enable readily available and affordable LNG for Pakistan. Due to the arrival of winter, urgent need for LNG will emerge in Pakistan.
Regarding this visit to China, there is an idea in Pakistan that this visit will prove to be a kick start for the Pakistani economy and will firmly fix the feet of Pakistan's shaky economy.
