Islamabad: Thousands of Chinese political and social leaders will be gathering in Beijing for routine annual meetings of two Parliamentary bodies on March 4 (today). However, the “Two Sessions” this year, have significant importance both from Chinese and Pakistani perspectives.
According to a report, the meetings are being held in the backdrop of an announcement by Chinese President Xi Jinping to have eradicated absolute poverty from the country 9 years ahead of the actual schedule. Also, the meetings are going to approve the new 5-year and 15-year plans, focusing technology as the main enhancer of the Chinese economy at home and its influence worldwide.
From Pakistan’s perspective, these meetings are crucial as Islamabad sees itself as the next battleground for the China’swar on poverty.
Pakistan is already betting heavily on CPEC as a cure for its ailing economy and outdated infrastructure. Yet it needs a systematic and well-structured programme to do away with extreme poverty, especially in rural areas. Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, looks more active than others in capitalising on opportunities brought by CPEC, to alleviate poverty from its central and peripheral areas.
The KP is emerging as a strong base for a potential Chinese poverty alleviation programme, as hinted by the International Poverty Reduction Centre in China (IPRCC) and Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Nong Rong.
The KP government is not only developing two major Special Economic Zones (SEZs) under CPEC framework, but also taking measures to rehabilitate the existing industrial estates devastated due to decades of neglect. The Swat expressway has the potential to become the most-preferred route for China-bound traffic and has presently stirred an economic revolution in northern parts of the province. KP Economic Zones Development and Management Company (KPEZDMC) is developing or rehabilitating a total of 17 industrial estates in the province and looks to inauguratea few more, in tribal districts bordering Afghanistan – Agencies
