CPEC expansion to Afghanistan will be ‘fate-changer’ for nearly 30 million Afghans: PCJCCI chief

Lahore: Pakistan-China Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCJCCI) chief Wang Zihai has said that extending the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) to Afghanistan will not only be a ‘game-changer’ but also a ‘fate-changer’ for nearly 30 million Afghans.

Addressing a meeting held at PCJCCI Secretariat, Wang Zihai maintained that extension of CPEC to Afghanistan was natural and practical.

He sounded positive over the vision of expanding CPEC to Afghanistan in order to promote economic development and prosperity in the war-torn country.

Wang Zihai, the President of PCJCCI, said: “It (CPEC expansion) will not only be a game-changer but also a fate-changer of nearly 30 million people living in Afghanistan.”

He added that it will increase the mutual trust, cooperation and regional connectivity between the three nations; Pakistan, China and Afghanistan.

He contended that this initiative will help in de-freezing Afghanistan’s foreign reserves and facilitation of banking operations to ease the economic hardships of the Afghan people and will help in building a sustainable economy.

On the occasion, PCJCCI Senior Vice President Ehsan Choudhry underscored that linking Pakistan’s southern Gawadar port in Balochistan on the Arabian Sea to China’s western Xinjiang region will open new vistas of trade and development for the business community.

He remarked that Gawadar was the jewel in Pakistan’s economy. “If it is combined with the surrounding areas through communications infrastructure, it could become a new Asian trade nucleus. Gawadar possesses immense strategic lure and could emerge as a key shipping point for both countries,” he underlined.

In his speech, the joint Chamber’s Vice President Sarfaraz Butt said that expansion of CPEC in Afghanistan will bring a major breakthrough in socio-economic ties between the three nations. He added that the government of Pakistan and China should include educational projects in the framework of CPEC in Afghanistan including girl’s education and effective counter-terrorism measures.

Speaking during the meeting, PCJCCI Secretary General Salahuddin Hanif observed that there was a dire need to expedite humanitarian aid to Afghanistan and its people to avert the looming crisis and called upon the international community to provide continued and enhanced assistance and support to Afghanistan including through unfreezing of Afghanistan’s financial assets.

He predicted that CPEC will work as a catalyst to stabilize and flourish the economy of Afghanistan.