Pakistan needs to monitor agreements with China

The Pakistani government is currently very happy with the Chinese government for such a huge development initiative called the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). CPEC is now a household name in Pakistan. Every provincial government, politician, bureaucrat and even technocrat is talking about the benefits of CPEC.

Recently, the Sindh Social Scientists Forum (SSSF), a social think tank based in Sindh, Pakistan, called a conference on the socio-economic impact of CPEC. Speakers at the conference were academic, retired bureaucrats, writers, philosophers and different members of the SSSF. They all talked about the merits and demerits of CPEC for Pakistan. They spoke about the One Belt One Road (OBOR) and the Chinese dream of trade links with around 65 countries, including the Arab world as well.

As China expands its trade activities, CPEC benefits outnumbered the concern of the human rights issues of China. Inside China, human rights groups are very much concerned about their record breaking negligence record on human rights. Now CPEC activities have just started, people asked the Pakistani government to watch CPEC, not only the road network, the establishment of industries and ports, but also give attention to the rights of locals from where these road networks and industries will be established. Local people must get their share of all activities in the way of employment, healthcare, education and recreational activities.

The Chinese dream is not only CPEC, but more trade links between all Asian and European countries. Pakistan can benefit more because all road networks will pass through Pakistan towards other Asian countries like Afghanistan, Iran and Central Asian countries. This route will take China to Europe and save time and money of Chinese companies due to the shortest possible route through Pakistan. In return, Pakistan will benefit through the establishment of road networks, industrial zones, port renovations, rail networking and the creation of new job markets.

Now the issue is how much Chinese human resource will be employed by their own companies in Pakistan and how many Pakistanis will get to benefit from all these project activities. Will Pakistanis get the lion’s share or just peanuts in the sense of employment? It’s good that Pakistan’s road, rail network and new industrial zones will be established, but at what price? China is giving money on loan to Pakistan, using its own banking network and currently their human resource is controlling every activity. According to Kaiser Bengali, a speaker at the SSSF conference, locals will get peanuts and the Chinese will control all CPEC activities.

I hope the government of Pakistan will keep the country’s stakes supreme and also keep an eye on human rights issues related to CPEC. The government can ask all Chinese companies to keep at least 2.5 per cent as Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and support the government of Pakistan to build hospitals, schools, skills training centres all around CPEC routes. CPEC financial and developmental instruments can also support Pakistan to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) of the United Nations.

— The reader is a development consultant based in Karachi, Pakistan.