‘Xinjiang, Balochistan and FATA’

This is apropos to two back-to-back letters titled ‘Xinjiang, Balochistan and FATA’

Xinjiang now boasts a state of art modern transportation network, including railways, highways, and airports connecting it to major cities in China and neighboring countries. Notable projects include the Urumqi-Hami section of the Lanzhou-Xinjiang high-speed railway, which links Xinjiang to the eastern provinces.

The total investment in these transportation projects over the years runs into tens of billions of dollars. Cities like Urumqi, Kashgar have been developed on ultramodern lines including the construction of modern residential areas, commercial centers, and public facilities and development of “new towns” to accommodate the growing population and improve living standards.

Xinjiang has become a hub for energy production, particularly in coal, oil, and natural gas. The region is also a significant producer of cotton and textiles, beside adorning industrial parks and zones for petrochemicals and mining, and Kashgar Economic Development Zone and the Urumqi Economic and Technological Development Zone. In addition, IT parks, advanced surveillance technologies, data centers, technology parks, 5G networks, cloud computing, and big data technologies have been developed to attract domestic and foreign investment.

Qamar Bashir

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024