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Cheng Xizhong: SEZs for modernization and urbanization
Last Updated: 2019-05-20 13:20 | CE.cn
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It is reported that a formal groundbreaking ceremony of Rashakai Special Economic Zone(SEZ), the first project for implementation of industrial cooperation under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor(CPEC), will be held soon.
 
With increasingly concrete progress having been made in the development of the CPEC ---- a flagship project of “Belt and Road Initiative”(BRI), the focus of corridor development will gradually transit from infrastructure construction to industrial development under full discussion and consultation between China and Pakistan.
 
Since China and Belarus jointly built the China-Belarus Industrial Park, the number of enterprises settled in the park has hit 40, five times more than that in the initial stage. The total contract investment has amounted to 1.1 billion U.S. dollars, with companies from countries including China, Belarus, Germany and the United States.

The success of the China-Belarus Industrial Park could serve as an example for the Rashakai Special Economic Zone(SEZ), but by no means should the latter copy its model without discrimination. In my view, the Rashakai SEZ in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province to be jointly built by China and Pakistan will gain development in a better way. 

The relationship between China and Pakistan is the best in the world, and the development of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor(CEPC)has received full support from all the political parties and people of all walks of life in Pakistan.

Besides, China and Pakistan have already accumulated experiences in the first phase of the CPEC development in the past five years and are full of confidence for the second phase of the CPEC development.

In terms of the location of Rashakai SEZ , it is in the central part of the CPEC, 70 km east from Islamabad, 40 km west from Peshawar, and is nearly in the middle of M1 Expressway from Islamabad to Peshawar. The position advantage promises a convenient transportation of industrial products from here to metropolitans with huge consumption demands.

Located in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, which borders China's Xinjiang, Afghanistan and Iran, and lying close to the expressways that runs through the north and south, east and west, it can radiate efficiently to important ports and large and medium-sized cities in China and Pakistan, and benefit neighboring countries such as Iran and Afghanistan. In this case, there is enormous potential of the industrial products from Lashakai SEZ to enter into domestic and foreign markets.

What should also be noted is that the first SEZ under the CPEC is decided to be built in the less developed Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, which demonstrates the strong determination of the Pakistani government in fighting poverty.            

Rashakai SEZ as a core project of the CPEC can become a talents training base, a modern manufacturing center, a technology transfer center, and a scientific and technological innovation highland in Pakistan. I am sure it will also become a high-end platform of international industrial capacity cooperation and a model of cooperation between China and Pakistan in industrial modernization and urbanization development.

(Cheng Xizhong, Special Commentator of China Economic Net, Visiting Professor at Southwest University of Political Science and Law, Senior Fellow of the Chahar Institute)

(Editor:Agnes)

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Cheng Xizhong: SEZs for modernization and urbanization
Source:CE.cn | 2019-05-20 13:20
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