‘CPEC provides opportunities to SCO members to enhance trade’

BEIJING: The development of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) with its linkage with other similar initiatives under the Belt and Road provides opportunities to the member states of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) to boost their energy export and trade potential by using Pakistan as a transit point, an official said on Saturday.

Speaking at the Belt and Road Innovation and Development Forum held in Hong Kong, Pakistan’s Ambassador to China Masood Khalid said that the Belt and Road Initiative has become a key instrument to regional and international connectivity.

Just like the historical Silk Road, it offers wide avenues of cooperation based on mutual prosperity and cooperation, he said, adding that it is set to bring together different regions and shrink the distance among civilisations.

The ambassador said Pakistan, with a long coastline, is a key transit point on the Maritime Silk Road. The CPEC is a 3,000km network of roads, railways and pipelines to transport oil and gas from southern Pakistan's Gwadar Port to Kashgar city in Northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

SCO secretary general Rashid Alimov said that the organisation, covering 60 percent of the Eurasian continent and nearly half the global population, has created a huge space for cooperation within Eurasia.

"According to the statistics in 2016, the overall GDP of countries related to our organisation reached $15 trillion, while the overall trade volume reached $5.9 trillion," Alimov added.

"Along with the joining of India and Pakistan, we have become the biggest comprehensive regional organisation."

With more opportunities and better connectivity brought by the Belt and Road, Alimov said that SCO will continue to promote international and regional cooperation, with a focus on mutual respect and interests.

To fulfill that economic cooperation is of great importance; investment in infrastructure, telecommunications and trade will continue, he added.

Alimov expected to build a logistics hub in the region to connect southern China, northwestern Europe and the Middle East for cross-border investment, and SCO will work to improve transportation infrastructure, simplify Customs procedures and provide one-stop solutions for future logistics.