More Than A fifth of Belt And Road projects Closed In Pakistan
Cranes seen at a construction site in Shanghai on June 9, 2020
More than 20 per cent of projects under China’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) to link Asia, Europe and beyond have been virtually closed down in Pakistan due to various reasons.
Though an official from China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on June 19, that the main reason was the Wuhan virus pandemic, there are other reasons like Baluchistan Freedom Fighters and funding crunch.
According to a survey by the ministry, about 40 per cent of projects have seen little adverse impact, but another 20 to 25 per cent have been affected to quite an extent and rest have been closed down said Mr Wang Xiaolong, director-general of the ministry’s International Economic Affairs Department, at a news briefing in Beijing.
“About 20 per cent percent of the projects have been seriously affected,” he said.
Mr Wang did not give any details.
The results from the survey were better than expected and although some projects had been put on hold, China had not heard of any major projects being cancelled, he added.
Over 100 countries have signed agreements with China to cooperate in BRI projects like railways, ports, highways and other infrastructure. Most of them are now having serious thoughts about continuing with it.
According to a Refinitiv database, over 2,600 projects at a cost of US$3.7 trillion (S$5.15 trillion) are linked to this floundering initiative of China.
The challenge of the pandemic to BRI projects follows a pushback in 2018, when officials in Indonesia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and elsewhere criticised projects there as costly and unnecessary.
China scaled back some plans after several countries sought to review, cancel or scale down commitments, citing concerns over costs, erosion of sovereignty, and corruption.
