Editorial
Pakistan is seeking to reposition the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor from a largely infrastructure-driven project into a broader platform for investment, industrial development and regional connectivity. Commerce Minister Jam Kamal Khan’s message at the 11th Belt and Road Summit in Hong Kong reflected this shift: Pakistan wants partners in the Belt and Road Initiative to participate more actively in the second phase of CPEC.
The opportunity is significant. Pakistan occupies a strategically important position between South Asia, Central Asia, China and the Arabian Sea. Through its road and rail connections with China, transit arrangements with Central Asian states and access to warm-water ports, the country has the potential to become an important commercial bridge connecting Western, Central and Eastern Asia.
But geography alone does not create an economic hub. Pakistan has long spoken of its strategic location; the real challenge is converting that location into productive economic activity.
This is why the second phase of CPEC should be different from the first. Roads, ports, power projects and other infrastructure were necessary to improve connectivity and address important economic constraints. The next stage, however, must use that infrastructure to generate exports, industrial production, technological development and employment.
Jam Kamal rightly emphasized that regional cooperation is moving beyond simple transport corridors towards integrated value chains. Pakistan should position itself within these emerging production networks rather than remain merely a route through which goods pass. A successful economic corridor should produce goods, attract industries, facilitate trade and connect Pakistani businesses with regional and global markets.
The country’s mineral resources offer another important opportunity. Copper, coal and other industrial and critical minerals could attract substantial foreign investment. Yet mineral wealth does not automatically translate into national prosperity. Investors require transparent rules, predictable regulation, contractual certainty and long-term policy stability. Pakistan must therefore ensure that investment in minerals contributes to domestic value addition, employment and industrial development rather than simply the extraction and export of raw resources.
The same principle applies to foreign investment more broadly.
Pakistan may be able to attract investors through CPEC and the wider Belt and Road framework, but sustainable investment depends ultimately on the quality of domestic governance. Macroeconomic stability, fiscal discipline and improving credit conditions can strengthen investor confidence, but businesses also consider taxation, energy costs, regulatory consistency, contract enforcement, infrastructure and the ease of moving capital and goods.
Therefore, Pakistan’s efforts to attract investment must be accompanied by serious regulatory and institutional reform.
Green and digital development should also become central to CPEC’s next phase. Climate-smart agriculture, renewable energy, modern digital infrastructure and environmentally sustainable industry are no longer secondary development goals. They are increasingly central to international investment and competitiveness. Cooperation with Hong Kong and other Belt and Road partners could help Pakistan acquire capital, technology and expertise in these areas.
Pakistan’s large population and overseas workforce provide additional advantages. Annual remittances of around $40 billion demonstrate the economic importance of Pakistanis working abroad. But remittances should not be the only measure of their contribution. The diaspora can also become a source of investment, professional expertise, technology transfer and international business connections.
The broader objective should therefore be clear: CPEC should evolve from a collection of infrastructure projects into a platform for economic transformation.
That requires moving from roads to trade, from connectivity to production, from mineral extraction to value addition, and from attracting investment to creating an environment in which investment can succeed.
Jam Kamal’s invitation to Belt and Road partners is timely. But international summits and investment pitches can only open doors. Pakistan itself must create the conditions that persuade investors to walk through them.
If the second phase of CPEC combines regional connectivity with industrial modernization, regulatory reform, technological development and sustainable investment, Pakistan could strengthen its position as an economic bridge between major regions.
The success of CPEC’s next chapter will ultimately be measured not by how much infrastructure Pakistan builds, but by how effectively that infrastructure produces investment, exports, jobs and lasting economic growth.
