Date: 7th -5-24
Event: Policy talk on BRI
Organizers: Urooj Aijaz, Qaiser Zaman, Amir Sultan and Sana Mughal
Title: BELT AND ROAD INITIATIVE: OPPORTUNITIES AND IMPLICATIONS FOR PAKISTAN AND THE REGION
Description of event with date venue/ time in descriptive form (Briefly):
The said session was organized to have a debate on a given topic necessary to generate policy outcomes.
Objective/s, Importance/relevance:
Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is an ambitious development project Initiated by Chinese President Xi Jinping back in 2013 to connect three continents Europe, Asia, and Africa. The primary objective of the China-backed project is to enhance economic connectivity by linking more than 60% of the world and almost 40% of global GDP and a vast amount of natural resources. The project envisions a network of land and sea trade routes that require significant infrastructure development. Almost 70 nations are already part of the BRI and the Chinese government has pledged more than USD 1 trillion in infrastructure financing for the project. The BRI mainly covers five areas for improved collaboration between China and the countries party to the initiative:
- Policy Coordination
- Financial Integration
- Connectivity
- Unimpeded Trade and
- People-to-people relations.
At a time when Asia’s infrastructure gap threatens growth in the region, Nepal along with other South and South East Asian countries looks at the BRI as an opportunity to develop infrastructure and attain economic development. The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), the flagship project of the BRI, promises to inject some USD 60 billion of Chinese investment into Pakistan to strengthen its economy through the construction of transportation networks, energy projects, and Special Economic Zones. Afghanistan will also benefit from the CPEC in the coming days. Sri Lanka and the Maldives have welcomed many projects under the BRI as well. Similarly, Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore, Vietnam will also gain from the projects that emerged in the region due to BRI. However, the infrastructure financing offered by the Chinese government is also at a critical juncture because of BRI projects that have made countries cautious of debt implications. With this directive in mind and at the point where celebrations are made after the completion of a decade of BRI & CPEC, the Department of H&SS-Bahria University Karachi attempts to spread awareness on the said topic through a policy talk on, “Belt and Road Initiative: Opportunities and Implications for Pakistan and the Region”
Faculty: Urooj Aijaz, Qaiser Zaman, Amir Sultan, Sana Mughal.
Departments:
Department of H&SS & MS
Students Involved:
The session was organized for the students of BSS, BS (English), BS(A&F)-II, and BS(E&F)-4 under the courses of Macroeconomics, Globalization, and Economics.
Learning Outcomes:
The outcome generates in the form of refined knowledge regarding the topic which was considered to be the fate changer of Pakistan and the region.
EVENT PHOTOGRAPHS:
