Regional Dialogue on the Role of Parliament in Promoting Exports, Trade and Commerce under CPEC, Karachi "CPEC Industrial Cooperation and its Way Forward"

Background

China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is a mega project, one of the most talked about projects of Pakistan's recent history and a flagship project of President Xi Jinping Belt and Road (BRI) concept. After 5 years of its inception, it has met with much relative success and few teething problems which was anticipated with the project of this magnitude.

In order to carry out a strategic analysis of the progress of CPEC in the past five years and carry out an assessment from different stakeholders, a meeting between Hon. Sher Ali Arbab, Chairman, Parliamentary Committee on CPEC and Dr. Jochen Hippler, Country Director of Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) Islamabad was held on October 01, 2020 in which both agreed to work jointly on this project to have in-depth assessment of CPEC and to develop recommendations for Government of Pakistan and other stakeholders for better understanding of the loopholes that may have existed and ideas as how to improve CPEC for greater connectivity and further developments that will eventually help the people of Pakistan and the region in general. The first consultation was held in Peshawar under the title Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Regional Dialogue on "The Role of Parliament in Enhancing Investment, Trade and People to People Exchange under CPEC" on 13th November 2020.

In lieu of the above, FES Pakistan and the National Assembly of Pakistan are cooperating in 2021 on a series of more consultations / dialogues on CPEC in different provinces and regions of Pakistan. These consultations will be held as parliamentary public hearings, and the final results will be published by the National Assembly of Pakistan, accordingly, duly endorsing FES Pakistan's contribution to it and it will become part of parliamentary proceedings.