CPEC a flagship project that has huge potential for regional economic integration: Kazakhstan Ambassador

Islamabad: Ambassador of Kazakhstan to Pakistan Yerzhan Kistafin has said that China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) was a flagship project having a huge potential for regional economic integration.

Delivering a special lecture on Kazakhstan organized by MUSLIM Institute organized here, the Ambassador maintained that Pakistan and Kazakhstan had a huge potential for bilateral trade and can cooperate in CPEC projects.

He underlined that Pakistan could utilize Kazakhstan’s natural resources to accelerate its economy.

The Ambassador mentioned that “innovative plans” should be focused to enhance connectivity. The reconstruction and renovation of the Karakoram Highway in the 2000s greatly expanded Pakistan’s access to western China, he added.

The envoy proposed that the Karakoram Highway could be expanded which might be utilized to enhance regional connectivity.

“Another option could be the potential links between Islamabad and Astana through the connection of railways such as Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Iran and Pakistan-Iran-Turkey,” he remarked.

Ambassador Kistafin noted that Pakistan-Iran-Turkey railway route has further enhanced the possibility of the realization of this plan. “Strong political commitments and inclusion of private sectors could be beneficial for the desired goals of socio-economic integration and greater regional connectivity,” he stressed.

The envoy emphasized the need to further strengthen people to people contacts and cordial relations between the two brotherly countries.

Being a country rich in natural resource, Kazakhstan was ready to share its resources with Pakistan, he underscored.

Ambassador Kistafin was of the views that Kazakhstan was the linchpin of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) due to its geographical location and vast natural resources.

“Similarly, China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is a flagship project that has huge potential for regional economic integration,” he observed.

The Ambassador pointed out that Pakistan provided a natural link to connect the Eurasian heartland with the Arabian Sea and South Asia. “At the inter-regional and intra-regional level, Pakistan could offer the critical land routes and connectivity for mutually beneficial trade and energy transaction,” he opined.

Ambassador Kistafin said rigorous commercial diplomacy or economic diplomacy was the need of the hour. “Though there was a huge potential of cooperation in the field of energy such as oil and gas, civil nuclear cooperation and renewable energy but lack of direct geographical communications between both countries hamper bilateral economic and trade cooperation and coordination,” he contended.

Chairman MUSLIM Institute Sahibzada Sultan Ahmed Ali also addressed the audience. People from different walks of life participated in the event.