Speakers say CPEC to become source of regional integration

PESHAWAR: Speakers on the concluding day of the two-day international conference on “Belt Road Initiative (BRI), China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and Tran-Regional Integration” on Thursday said the cluster of projects would soon become a source of regional integration.

The conference was arranged at the Area Study Centre of the University of Peshawar.

Scholars from different countries of the region presented papers about regional connectivity on the concluding day of the event.

The main speakers on the final day were former chief secretary Shakeel Durrani, Dr Shabbir Ahmad, Director Area Study Centre and others. Those who presented research papers and presentations included Leonid Savin from Russia, Baqi Amin, a scholar from Afghanistan, Suleiman from the University of Peshawar, Said Ali from Kazakhstan, Dr Idinov Kyrgyzstan and Dr Bakhtiar from Tajikistan, and Amir Khan from the centre of excellence for CPEC, Islamabad.

Shakeel Durrani appreciated the initiative by Area Study Centre for holding the conference on BRI and CEPEC.

He called CPEC as Marshall for Pakistan. He said that CPEC would prove a major success and it would be expanded to other countries of the region.

He stressed the need for proper handling of the multi-billion project. He feared that if the project was not handled properly, it may fail, which would be a great misfortune not only for the country but for the whole region.

Shakeel Durrani said that the conference is going to shape ideas on the future of BRI and CPEC and such academic gathering will be arranged in future in the Area Study Centre University of Peshawar.