ABSTRACT
The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is one of the most ambitious mega projects ever undertaken in Pakistan with hopes and aspirations of millions of Pakistan citizens for a better economic future. The CPEC is a multifaceted connectivity, investment and trade initiative which includes expansion of rail and road networks, energy generation projects, port development, fibre-optic cables networks and industrial cooperation. Although the MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) for the planning and development of CPEC – a major China-Pakistan cooperative project – was signed only recently on 5 July 2013 during Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s visit to China, some analysts believe that plans for Pakistan-China economic cooperation with the proposal to create an Economic Corridor from Gwadar in Balochistan to Kashgar in the Western Chinese province of Sinkiang dates back to the mid-2000s when in 2006 the Pakistan Planning Commission had proposed such an economic corridor between Gwadar and Kashgar.
