The second phase of CPEC aims to widen the scope of Chinese projects in Pakistan by providing opportunities for socio-economic development and industrialization. Pakistan is traditionally an agriculture based economy with majority of its rural population earning their livelihood through their landholdings. The inclusion of agriculture in the CPEC portfolio is not surprising because Pakistan’s agricultural sector has enormous potential for foreign investors.
Earlier this year, the Parliamentary Committee on CPEC called for strengthening the agriculture sector under the CPEC framework which it observed was underperforming. The Committee members highlighted that farmers were the major stakeholders of this sector and the timely provision of seeds must be ensured. The Committee also suggested that bottlenecks should be removed to enhance agricultural productivity.[1]
