This is apropos a Business Recorder editorial "Why is CPEC being characterised as 'opaque'?" carried by the newspaper on Saturday. The editorial has raised key points with regard to transparency issues in relation to the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
The Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) has prepared a 139-page report titled "FPCCI stance on CPEC" which maintain that "inflow of Chinese investment and business enterprises will adversely impact the interests of Pakistani business communities - it covers the signing of Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with China and flooding of Chinese products, inflow of Chinese investments and migration of Chinese labour force to Pakistan."
While one cannot make any authentic comment on FPCCI's concerns, there are some facts that may contribute towards easing these and similar concerns. For example, most of the $46 billion CPEC projects are related to power generation and transmission. These would require skilled and efficient workforce for their timely completion. There are, however, some legitimate doubts about the availability or existence of the required skilled workforce for numerous power projects. The scarcity or whatever will surely warrant the arrival of more and more trained Chinese to execute these projects in order to meet deadlines.
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