Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), China’s largest commercial bank has provided a short term financing of $20 million for a mass rail transit project in Pakistan.
The financing has been provided last month for the first mass rail transit project under the CPEC umbrella. Additionally, this project will play a significant role to begin the Belt and Road initiative. The venture is aimed to connect Asia with Europe, Africa and other sea routes.
Also Read: Pak-China Chamber urges media to play positive role in highlighting CPEC significance
Orange Line is the first major rail transit project facilitated by China that is currently being constructed in Lahore. Since it is completely built as per Chinese standards, thus, all the vehicles and electromagnetic systems are also brought from China to ensure quality standards.
ICBC, being the only Chinese Commercial Bank in Pakistan, has exhibited complete support to the ongoing CPEC projects.
Other than the aforementioned projects, the Chinese Bank has backed various other wind farm projects during 2015. It extended a loan of $25 million for a 50 megawatt Dawood wind farm project. Moreover, they also funded another $100 million for the construction of Sachal wind farm (49.5 megawatt) project in Sindh.
Quick Read: China keen to invest in Pakistan’s solar industry
Massive Job Creation Expected Under The CPEC
CPEC will not only prove to uplift the economic activity but will also solve the unemployment issue in the country. Pakistan’s unemployment rate which currently stands at a staggering rate of 5.9 percent is expected to reduce to 3.3 percent.
Thanks to the ongoing CPEC projects, approximately 2.32 million jobs are expected to be created especially for the local population. For instance, Sahiwal Power Plant has created massive technical jobs for local individuals.
Read More: China to initiate $35 billion Silk Road plan in Pakistan
Furthermore, thousands of engineers and labors are being employed by Port Qasim Power Plant and Sahiwal Power Plant. Besides reducing the unemployment rate, CPEC is providing an excellent opportunity to our youth to receive training from experienced Chinese professionals and also learn state of the art technology. Nonetheless, once these projects gain momentum; they will solve multiple economic problems simultaneously.
Source: China Daily
Leave a Reply
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
