BEIJING, : China on Tuesday said that the completion of Sukkur-Multan Motorway epitomised the ongoing success of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) development against Covid-19 impact.
“The completion of this project epitomises the ongoing success of CPEC development against Covid-19 impact,” Chinese Foreign Ministry’s Spokesperson, Wang Wenbin said during his briefing in response to handing over of Sukkur-Multan Motorway by the Chinese constructor to the authorities in Pakistan .
The spokesperson said, “I noted this good news. Peshawar-Karachi motorway is an early harvest and also the largest transportation infrastructure project under CPEC.
Now, the Sukkur-Multan part of this motorway has been completed and handed over to Pakistan.”
He said that the project had reduced the transport time from 11 hours to four hours while over 29,000 jobs were created during its construction.
Wang Wenbin remarked that this motorway passed through the cash crop producing areas in Pakistan which would boost the economic development of areas along the route.
“China also built some public welfare projects including schools, bridges, water channels and wells etc,” he added.
He said that the Chinese side would continue to work with Pakistan to further focus on projects in livelihood, industry and agriculture to build the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) a demonstration process and bring more benefits to two people.
The 392-km Sukkur-Multan motorway, also known as M5 in Pakistan, is a part of the country’s Peshawar-Karachi Motorway and was designed for speeds of up to 120 kmh with a total investment of around US$ 2.89 billion, according to project’s constructor China State Construction Engineering Corporation.
The motorway was open to traffic in November last year and has greatly improved traffic conditions and helped drive economic development in central Pakistan.
According to the constructor, some 29,000 jobs were created for the locals in the peak time of construction and the operation of the motorway will be all done by the Pakistani side.
The Chinese constructor also built schools, roads, bridges, wells and water channels for the locals to make their lives more convenient.
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