China invested in Pakistan when no one else did: Senate body chief

[HerbertPervert]

What good are roads, infrastructure, power plants if your population cannot take advantage of them?

For example roads and infrastructure are useful for industrialized economy to move goods to ports for shipping. Yet, your exports are limited because you export mostly textiles and agricultural products. So you don't have much to ship. Also, manufacturing of these goods happens only near Karachi and central Punjab. So the roads here already exist and new roads would be useless.

Building roads in Balochistan won't benefit the Baloch as most of them don't even work in factories and thrive on smuggling. You have to first invest in vocational training of Baloch to mainstream them into society. KPK can benefit from Afghan transit.

As for power plants, you built excess capacity. However, your industry and consumers don't utilize enough power for that capacity to be economical. The only solution is to increase industrial utilization of power plants which requires them to expand their manufacturing capacity by investing in new factories.

As you can see in above points, the real problem is the lack of human capital. Pakistan has invested in infrastructure and military, but it did not invest in its people. Had you invested in education and vocational training, you could have produced more industries and a larger workforce to fuel those. Only then could you have benefited from CPEC.

Another major flaw with CPEC was PMLN obsession with wasting money on vanity projects like Lahore Metro Orange Line and redirecting infrastructure investment from KPK & Balochistan towards Punjab.

What does a metro have anything to do with CPEC? It was a useless project that benefitted no one. Lahore Metro diverted billions of dollars away from ML-1 which would have benefitted the entire country and its economy.

The original CPEC was to run through the western route up to Gwadar. As soon as PMLN took over, they created an "Eastern route" to build in Punjab and cater to their vote bank.

Had CPEC been used to bring the undeveloped western Pakistan up to par with the already developed eastern Pakistan, it would have created new industries like mining in untapped areas and it would have reduced militancy.

If China will continue to invest in CPEC, it must be smart and avoid cooperation with PMLN or PPP which use projects for political mileage and corruption. PMLN and PPP are ethnic parties that will divert CPEC to benefit one province at expense of others.

It must also avoid investing in projects that will not produce economic benefit and would instead bankrupt Pakistan. Pakistanis are too stupid to govern themselves and must have their hands held like children. In other words, if CPEC is to succeed, China must take over its planning and execution instead of leaving it to hands of corrupt politicians and military.

 

[FuturePAF]

What good are roads, infrastructure, power plants if your population cannot take advantage of them?

For example roads and infrastructure are useful for industrialized economy to move goods to ports for shipping. Yet, your exports are limited because you export mostly textiles and agricultural products. So you don't have much to ship. Also, manufacturing of these goods happens only near Karachi and central Punjab. So the roads here already exist and new roads would be useless.

Building roads in Balochistan won't benefit the Baloch as most of them don't even work in factories and thrive on smuggling. You have to first invest in vocational training of Baloch to mainstream them into society. KPK can benefit from Afghan transit.

As for power plants, you built excess capacity. However, your industry and consumers don't utilize enough power for that capacity to be economical. The only solution is to increase industrial utilization of power plants which requires them to expand their manufacturing capacity by investing in new factories.

As you can see in above points, the real problem is the lack of human capital. Pakistan has invested in infrastructure and military, but it did not invest in its people. Had you invested in education and vocational training, you could have produced more industries and a larger workforce to fuel those. Only then could you have benefited from CPEC.

Another major flaw with CPEC was PMLN obsession with wasting money on vanity projects like Lahore Metro and redirecting infrastructure investment from KPK & Balochistan towards Punjab. The original CPEC was to run through the western route up to Gwadar. As soon as PMLN took over, they created an "Eastern route" to build in Punjab and cater to their vote bank.

Had CPEC been used to bring the undeveloped western Pakistan up to par with the already developed eastern Pakistan, it would have created new industries like mining in untapped areas and it would have reduced militancy.

That’s just it, skilled workers leave the country because they can get better pay for their skilled work abroad. Industries have been de-incentivized, and have fallen so far behind, they are uncompetitive. Investors are afraid to invest due to political uncertainty and high operating costs. The nation should be providing collective electricity rates to its industrial parks. Indeed along with vanity projects (such as the metro, which should have been done with land acquisition and ground level BRT as much as possible) the PML-N is also alleged to have skimmed off the top of these projects. Vocational training would be good if there were factory jobs for these workers to go to.

Pakistan needs to shift the use of all the electrical power plants to serving industry and decoupling its investment.

The Pakistani military should have protected CPEC from vote bank politics and diversion of funds to help whatever government in power (including PTI). All commodities should be market rate and Pakistan needs to operate at world prices for most commodities, so these resources are used with full realization of the costs.

Pakistanis (especially the elite) need to understand what China went through to get where it has today (40 years of an average of 9% growth a year). I’m not advocating communism or socialism but state capitalism, where by Pakistani industries become internationally competitive and earn money from exports.

One silver lining of the current situation in Pakistan is that it has made the rupee reflect its actual value making Pakistani labor competitive.

 

[khansaheeb]

But unfortunately, I see quite a number of Pakistanis on the forum view that CPEC was designed as a debt trap by China to take advantage of Pakistan when it was in difficult time needing of development and investments. Obviously, they have bought such narrative from the Indians and Americans.

Yes , you would say that wouldn't you? Evil whisperers are recognised and always come out of the wood work to spread evil messages. To put it bluntly: CPEC has transformed Pakistan's infrastructure and put Pakistan on a road map for economic renaissance. Loans that China have provided contrasts with the loans provided by the IMF, IMF loans have brought so much misery and chaos to the people of Pakistan and undermining its very foundation.

 

[etylo]

Yes , you would say that wouldn't you? Evil whisperers are recognised and always come out of the wood work to spread evil messages. To put it bluntly: CPEC has transformed Pakistan's infrastructure and put Pakistan on a road map for economic renaissance. Loans that China have provided contrasts with the loans provided by the IMF, IMF loans have brought so much misery and chaos to the people of Pakistan and undermining its very foundation.

Good, at least you have a positive view on CPEC.

 

[FuturePAF]

There is an ongoing political turmoil in Pakistan and security is always a big concern, everyone can see this and the country needs no one to tell them. but only Pakistan itself can fix them, no one else can help in this regard.

Pakistan needs institutions that keep the vested interests; all members of its elite in check, and produces economic competition, a key pre-requisite for efficient resources use.

Pakistani state needs to be oriented towards development first and foremost to protect its sovereignty and not be forced to make deals with any and all foreign powers to keep its economy going.

China developed first and foremost when it could borrow from its own people at below market rates. Pakistan too needs a representative government that provides social services for people to support it and pay their taxes, but also be motivated to invest. Pakistan also needs a government that can at least speed up its economic recovery so it can focus on development projects with Afghanistan, and high would really make a big change; mineral processing and value added manufacturing in pakistan as well as a trans-afghan railway to Central Asia

This pivot is very important for a number of strategic, economic, and security reasons. For all these reasons, I would hope China impresses upon the Pakistani elite to carry out actually free and fair elections, bringing a government people will respect and follow, perhaps with observers from countries all political parties in Pakistan can agree upon and have pushed back against the military’s role in government; Malaysia, Turkey, and especially Indonesia.