CPEC and Gwadar’s development rays of hope for Pakistan
As the epicenter of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor, the economic significance of the port city of Gwadar in Pakistan’s southwestern province of Balochistan has risen significantly in recent years. Three necessary conditions of the corridor were the development of the deep-sea port, the international airport at Gwadar and the development of surface transport connectivity between Gwadar and China’s far-west city of Kashgar.
The launch of the $230 million Gwadar International Airport through a Chinese grant on Friday catapults the city to new economic heights with hopes for speedy transits among Central Asian, Eurasian, South Asian and Middle Eastern business communities within three years. The deepwater port city is a key cog in China’s $60 billion dollar CPEC project as part of Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative that looks to connect landlocked Central Asian States and providing the shortest trade routes to the developing Western regions of China.