Business
CPEC-II: action, not rhetoric, will deliver | The Express Tribune
ISLAMABAD:
A few days ago, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met with President Xi Jinping, with China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) high on the agenda. The leaders agreed that, building on past successes, it was time to give new momentum to CPEC’s implementation.
Both sides decided to accelerate work on the second phase and align CPEC, Pakistan’s economic backbone, with the five corridors and Uraan Pakistan, built around the Five Es – Export, Energy, Equity, Environment, and Education. To guide future actions, an Action Plan was issued after the meeting.
However, before moving to implementation, Pakistan must first “prioritise its priorities.” Based on the Action Plan and related discussions, a few suggestions can guide policymakers and implementers.
The first step is identifying the top priority. While both industry and agriculture are vital, given Pakistan’s current situation, agriculture must come first. It is the most critical sector, deeply linked to all others, and essential for achieving inclusive development.
Agriculture contributes 23.54% to GDP and employs 37% of the labour force. It supplies raw materials to industries such as textiles, food, and leather, and contributes directly to foreign reserves through exports like rice. Yet, it faces serious challenges, including climate change, water scarcity, and low productivity, among others.
Climate change affects water availability and quality, and extreme weather patterns are worsening the situation. Low seed quality and poor inputs reduce productivity and farmer income, deepening poverty in rural areas. This sector, therefore, deserves urgent attention and top priority under CPEC-II.
Collaboration should focus on climate-smart farming, quality seed production, efficient water management, and input manufacturing. The government should create small, effective programmes to attract targeted funding in these areas and speed up the establishment of nine agriculture research centres under CPEC.
Cooperation must balance business-to-business (B2B) corporate farming with government-to-government (G2G) partnerships. Promoting corporate agriculture is necessary, but policies must also protect small farmers, who form the majority.
Around 89-90% of farms are smaller than 12.5 acres. Of these, 1.25 million are less than 1 acre, 2.3 million are under 2.5 acres, and 1.7 million are below 5 acres, together representing 64% of all farms. Poverty levels are highest among them.
Thus, agricultural cooperation should be divided into two categories: growth-focused and development-focused. Growth can be achieved through B2B corporate farming, while development should rely on G2G cooperation. (Further guidance can be found in a concept paper written for the CPEC Authority.) Pakistan must proceed carefully; unchecked corporate farming could prove counterproductive.
Industrial cooperation is another key CPEC pillar that requires careful handling to deliver results. Pakistan should adopt a two-step industrial policy: 1) supply chain inclusion, and 2) joint ventures.
This approach is needed due to the mismatch between Pakistani and Chinese companies. Pakistan’s economy depends heavily on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), most of which cannot immediately engage in joint ventures. However, there are numerous areas where Pakistan can integrate into Chinese supply chains.
For instance, China is now a leading producer of electric vehicles (EVs) and related technologies. Pakistani companies that manufacture quality nuts, bolts, and small parts could be included in these supply chains.
Pakistan can request that China open opportunities for local SMEs to supply components for Chinese EV producers. This would strengthen Pakistan’s SME base, increase foreign reserves, and create jobs. Similar opportunities exist in other sectors as well.
To further strengthen exports, Pakistan must pursue brand development under CPEC-II. The country produces some of the world’s best goods but struggles to build global brands. Pakistan is globally known for high-quality sports goods like FIFA footballs, and for cutlery and surgical instruments.
However, these products often reach international markets through foreign intermediaries, reducing profits and visibility. Many Pakistani sports goods and surgical tools, for instance, are sold in Africa under German labels.
The main reasons are limited financing and technology gaps, which prevent Pakistani firms from competing with established global brands. Combining Pakistani craftsmanship with Chinese capital and technology could produce globally competitive brands, creating jobs and export potential.
In developing joint ventures, Pakistan should leverage its State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) to address the structural mismatch with Chinese firms. Two options are possible: joint ventures between Pakistani SOEs and Chinese private firms, or between SOEs from both countries.
Ideal Pakistani partners include the Railways, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), and Steel Mills. These ventures could revive struggling public entities and modernise key industries.
Science and technology are also central to CPEC-II. Pakistan must aim to turn this cooperation into a source of hard power, not merely soft power. That means building the capacity to produce technological products and machinery domestically. Pakistan should focus on developing firms that manufacture ICT equipment and industrial machinery, positioning itself as a regional innovation hub.
To achieve this, Pakistan needs to focus on two priorities. First, create opportunities that enable knowledge generation, the foundation of innovation. Second, build the infrastructure for world-class research and development (R&D), backed by strong financial support.
Pakistan and China can jointly encourage private business groups to invest in R&D. Chinese private companies are now among the world’s largest R&D spenders, offering valuable partnership opportunities. However, all such initiatives must operate strictly on merit.
In conclusion, Pakistan must internalise one lesson from CPEC Phase-I: only performance matters, not promises. Less talk and self-promotion, more work and delivery, should define this phase. Effective policies, detailed work plans, and timely execution will matter far more than rhetoric. Success itself will be the best promotion for all those involved.
THE WRITER IS A POLITICAL ECONOMIST AND VISITING RESEARCH FELLOW AT HEBEI UNIVERSITY, CHINA
One of Britain’s most prolific rail fare dodgers could face jail after admitting dozens of travel offences.
Charles Brohiri, 29, pleaded guilty to travelling without buying a ticket a total of 112 times over a two-year period, Westminster Magistrates’ Court heard.
He could be ordered to pay more than £18,000 in unpaid fares and legal costs, the court was told.
He will be sentenced next month.
District Judge Nina Tempia warned Brohiri “could face a custodial sentence because of the number of offences he has committed”.
He pleaded guilty to 76 offences on Thursday.
It came after he was convicted in his absence of 36 charges at a previous hearing.
During Thursday’s hearing, Judge Tempia dismissed a bid by Brohiri’s lawyers to have the 36 convictions overturned.
They had argued the prosecutions were unlawful because they had not been brought by a qualified legal professional.
But Judge Tempia rejected the argument, saying there had been “no abuse of this court’s process”.
JSW Jetour T2 Launch: JSW Motors Limited, the passenger vehicle arm of the JSW Group, is reportedly preparing to enter the Indian car market this year. It has partnered with Jetour, a China-based automotive brand owned by Chery Automobile, and the Jetour T2 SUV could be the company’s first product, according to the reports.
Media reports suggest that the launch will happen independently and not under the JSW MG Motor India joint venture. The SUV will wear a JSW badge and name, instead of the Jetour branding. The upcoming SUV will be assembled at JSW’s upcoming greenfield manufacturing facility in Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar, Maharashtra.
According to the reports, the company plans to have the vehicle on sale by the third quarter of this year. With this move, JSW aims to establish itself as a standalone carmaker in India.
Expected Powertrain
The SUV is likely to arrive with a 1.5-litre plug-in hybrid setup. Internationally, this hybrid powertrain is offered with both front-wheel drive and all-wheel drive options. It is still unclear which version will be introduced in India.
Design
In terms of design, the T2 is a large and rugged-looking SUV. It has a boxy and upright stance, similar to vehicles like the Land Rover Defender. Despite its tough appearance, it uses a monocoque chassis instead of a ladder-frame construction.
Size
The SUV measures around 4.7 metres in length and nearly 2 metres in width. This makes it larger than the Tata Safari, even though it is a five-seater. A longer 7-seat version is also sold in some markets.
Price
Pricing details for India are yet to be announced. For reference, the front-wheel-drive five-seat T2 i-DM is priced at AED 1,44,000 (around Rs 35 lakh) in the UAE.
Jetour
Jetour is a brand owned by Chinese automaker Chery. Launched in 2018, it focuses mainly on SUVs and is present in markets across China, the Middle East, Africa, Southeast Asia and Latin America.
John Swinney has been pressed over whether this week’s Scottish Budget gives some workers the “smallest tax cut in history” – with Tory leader Russell Findlay branding the reduction “miserly” and “insulting”.
The Scottish Conservative leader challenged the First Minister after Tuesday’s Holyrood Budget effectively cut taxes for lower earners, by increasing the threshold for the basic and intermediate bands of income tax.
But Mr Findlay said that would leave workers at most £31.75 a year better off – saying this amounts to a saving of just £61p a week
“That wouldn’t even buy you a bag of peanuts,” the Scottish Tory leader said.
“John Swinney’s Budget might even have broken a world record, because a Scottish Government tax adviser says it ‘maybe the smallest tax cut in history’.”
Raising the “miserly cut” at First Minister’s Questions in the Scottish Parliament, Mr Findlay demanded to know if the SNP leader believed his “insulting tax cut will actually help Scotland’s struggling households”.
The attack came as the Tory accused the SNP government of increasing taxes on higher earners, with its freeze on higher income tax thresholds, which will pull more Scots into these brackets.
This is needed to pay for the “SNP’s out of control, unaffordable benefits bill”, the Conservative added.
Mr Findlay said: “The Scottish Conservatives will not back and cannot back a Budget that does nothing to help Scotland’s workers and businesses.
“It hammers people with higher taxes to fund a bloated benefits system.”
Hitting out at Labour – whose leader Anas Sarwar has already declared they will not block the government’s Budget – Mr Findlay said: “It is absolutely mind-blowing that Labour and other so-called opposition parties will let this SNP boorach of a budget pass.
“Don’t the people of Scotland deserve lower taxes, fairer benefits and a government focused on economic growth?”
Mr Swinney said the Budget “delivers on the priorities of the people of Scotland” by “strengthening our National Health Service and supporting people and businesses with the challenges of the cost of living”.
He insisted income tax decisions in the Budget would mean that in 2026-27 “55% of Scottish taxpayers are now expected to pay less income tax than if they lived in England”.
The First Minister went on to say that showed “the people of Scotland have a Government that is on their side”.
Referring to polls putting his party on course to win the Holyrood elections in May, the SNP leader added that “all the current indications show the people of Scotland want to have this Government here for the long term”.
Benefits funding is “keeping children out of poverty”, he told MSPs, adding the Budget contained a “range of measures” that would build on existing support.
The First Minister said: “What that is a demonstration of is a Government that is on the side of the people of Scotland and I am proud of the measures we set out in the Budget on Tuesday.”
Meanwhile he said the Tories wanted to make tax cuts that would cost £1 billion, with “not a scrap of detail about how that would be delivered”.
With the weekly leaders’ question time clash coming less than 48 hours after the draft 2026-27 Budget was unveiled, the First Minister also faced questions from Scottish Labour’s Anas Sarwar, who insisted that the proposals “lacks ambition for Scotland”.
Pressing his SNP rival, the Scottish Labour leader said: “While he brags about his £6 a year tax cut for the lowest paid, one million Scots including nurses, teachers and police officers face being forced to pay more.
“Even his own tax adviser says this is a political stunt. So why does John Swinney believe that someone earning £33,500 has the broadest shoulders and therefore should pay more tax in Scotland?”
Mr Swinney, however, said that many public sector workers would be better off in Scotland.
He told the Scottish Labour leader: “A band six nurse at the bottom of the scale will take home an additional £1,994 after tax compared to the same band in England.
“A qualified teacher at the bottom of the band will take home £6,365 more after tax in Scotland than the equivalent in England. There are the facts for Mr Sarwar.”
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