It’s been a busy few weeks for Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan in terms of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects. At the end of March, the Premier performed the groundbreaking ceremony for the city’s international airport and he went on to announce the implementation of several new developments in the locality.
With April drawing to a close, Imran Khan has turned his attention to the project that lies at the heart of CPEC’s aims – the China Belt and Road Initiative.
Imran challenges World Leaders
Speaking at the second Belt and Road forum on Friday April 26th, Pakistan’s Prime Minister urged World Leaders to remove obstacles that are currently lying in the way of the initiative’s aims. He also outlined five ways in which the China Belt and Road project can be accelerated.
Firstly, the premier looked at the issue of climate change. Tree planting has formed part of his plans in the past and this looks set to be the case again. Imran recently announced that one million trees would be planted in Gwadar and he suggested collaboration to plant 100 billion trees over two years to tackle climate change.
Intercultural understanding was the next item on the agenda with the Prime Minister seeking to set up a BRI Tourism Corridor. At the same time, Imran talked about tackling corruption and white collar crime.
Efforts to tackle poverty
From the start of his tenure, Imran Khan has sought to protect the interests of the common man in Pakistan. As part of his plans to boost Gwadar, the Premier announced the introduction of health insurance cards and at Belt and Road forum, he spoke of the need to tackle poverty as a whole.
Here, the PM announced aims to follow China’s lead where some 800 million citizens were lifted out of the poverty range in a matter of decades.
General liberalising of trade rounded off Imran Khan’s agenda: The China Belt and Road initiative forms a pivotal part of Pakistan’s future and by getting these aims into practise, Imran Khan sees that it will run more smoothly and achieve its goals in a faster time frame.