According to the CPEC Authority, Pakistan could only complete three China-Pakistan Economic Corridor projects in Gwadar worth more than $300 million, while a dozen programmes worth roughly $2 billion remain unfinished, including water supply and electricity distribution.
Furthermore, the review of the progress of the projects revealed that all plans that had socio-economic benefits for Gwadar, considered CPEC’s crown jewel, fell short of their original completion schedules.
The CPEC agency, which Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal wants to finalize, submitted the status update report to the new government last month.
The CPEC agency has only stated that three plans have been completed, including the $4 million Gwadar Smart Port City Master Plan, which cannot be designated as a project.
The other two plans are the $300 million Gwadar Port Physical Infrastructure and Free Zone Phase 1 and the PakChina Vocational and Technical Institute, built with a $10 million Chinese grant.
There isn’t even domestic electricity for the port as the country imports energy from Iran to meet the city’s energy needs.
CPEC remained dormant for most of the previous PTI government, but lately, there has been some progress after the last political regime hired Khalid Mansoor as the Prime Minister’s special assistant for CPEC affairs. However, he could not carry these schemes across the finish line.
