BEIJING, May 8 (APP): “The Afghan officials are seeking to use the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) initiative to advance the much-needed infrastructure and economic development in their country,” said Qian Feng, Director of the Research Department at the National Strategy Institute at Tsinghua University.
“One of the direct benefits brought by the CPEC to Afghanistan is cooperation linked to infrastructure construction and transport connectivity,” he told Global Times.
In addition, he said, China’s advanced agriculture and poverty reduction experience could be shared with Afghanistan to fundamentally improve living standards there.
He said as a landlocked country, “Afghanistan mainly relies on Pakistani ports for international trade. However, due to government regulations, trade between Pakistan and Afghanistan mainly takes place via the ports of Karachi and Qasim, posing some problems such as protracted time and higher cost.”
Afghanistan, he said, had become the first among landlocked Central Asian countries to benefit from using the Chinese-invested Gwadar Port in Pakistan for future cross-border trade.
After several rounds of consultations with relevant authorities in Pakistan, Gwadar Port finally obtained an e-export trade license with Afghanistan in the second half of 2019, according to China’s Ministry of Commerce. In 2020, Afghanistan imported 43,000 tons of fertilizer via the port, contributing to its agricultural development.
However, Qian said security concerns would be one of the outstanding challenges facing the CPEC project extension to Afghanistan. Companies from the three countries could look for other cooperation opportunities in advance in the region.
Qian noted that the CPEC extension to Afghanistan might encourage regional communication and help resolve their dispute.
