By Abdul Wajid Khan ISLAMABAD, Feb. 22 (INP-WealthPK): Pakistan’s noted economic experts are of the view that Prime Minister Imran Khan’s recent visit to China has further expanded the scope of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and it will boost economic cooperation between the two countries. While talking to WealthPK, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Board of Investment Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and former Project Director of CPEC Dr Hassan Daud Butt said that during the PM’s visit to China, the scope of investment and participation under CPEC has been enhanced significantly. He said that preparatory work was completed particularly about the industrial development framework under CPEC before the prime minister’s visit to China and decisions were taken about deliverables, especially to populate special economic zones (SEZs) under CPEC in the preparatory meetings. The strategy was formed to facilitate and attract Chinese investment in agriculture, tourism, livestock and other potential areas. “If we see the PM’s previous visits to China, we will witness that the scope of CPEC was also expended at that time when socio-economic sector was incorporated in its portfolio. Whenever the PM visited China, he presented Pakistan as an investment heaven and it always led to expansion in cooperation with China particularly on CPEC,” he added. Hassan Daud Butt further told WealthPK that besides his meetings with top Chinese leadership, the prime minister also interacted with noted Chinese businessmen and discussed business and trade opportunities in details. Imran Khan convinced Chinese investors to invest in Pakistan, particularly in SEZs and other potential areas, to benefit from the enormous investment opportunities. Hassan said that the prime minister also encouraged third party participation so that more countries will come and become part of CPEC. Similarly, discussion is also being held about the expansion of CPEC to Afghanistan. In the second phase of CPEC, which is about industrial cooperation, export-oriented industries are being promoted in SEZs. “The prime minister has directed the Board of Investment (BoI) to complete its homework to facilitate Chinese investment as a result of discussions during his visit to China. The BoI had also made tremendous efforts before the prime minister’s visit. One-window operation has been launched by the BoI to facilitate investors,” he added. Director of China-Pakistan Study Centre at the Institute of Strategic Studies (ISSI) Islamabad Dr Talat Shabbir told media that CPEC has become a very significant project for both countries, and it was discussed in detail during Imran Khan’s four-day visit to China. He said that the PM’s visit will add new spirit to CPEC and give it further boost. It will attract more investment in the current phase of industrialisation. While negating the perception that CPEC has slowed down, Dr Talat stated that this impression is created because we are lacking in skills and capacity to pace up with China. “It is a pertinent question that how Pakistan can learn from Chinese experience of development. There is an impression of slowdown about CPEC in some quarters. It is because in many areas we need to develop our capacity to pace up with Chinese institutions. We need to learn about China’s development model. It is a very fast track model, while we have long bureaucratic procedures and many other problems. We need to create enabling environment to attract investment,” he stated. “Currently, perfect models in technology, agriculture, information technology, education, business and trade are working in China. China has strengthened its institutions. We need to study these models and get benefits. We need to reform our system as our existing system is not pacing up with Chinese system. China is helping in capacity building and providing skills. If we failed to provide enabling environment for investors, the slowdown perception about CPEC will prevail,” he added. Dr Talat stated that the BoI is working efficiently, while the CPEC Authority should be made more efficient to create enabling environment for foreign investment. Imran Khan visited Beijing at the invitation of the Chinese leadership from 3 to 6 February, 2022 to attend the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympic Games 2022. During the visit, the prime minister held talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang. During the visit, both sides signed a framework agreement on industrial cooperation and agreed to further leverage the private sectors and entrepreneurs of both countries to contribute to Pakistan's industrialisation in an all-round way. The leaders agreed to task the CPEC Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC) to strengthen cooperation across all areas, including trade, infrastructure, industrial development, agriculture modernisation, scientific and technological cooperation and socio-economic well-being of local people. The two sides also agreed to launch the China-Pakistan health, industry, trade, green and digital corridors.