According to officials in Gwadar, the first of five projects of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has been completed, but locals are unaware of the project.
The Pakistan China Technical and Vocational Institute, affiliated with the Gwadar Port project, is CPEC’s first project to be completed in Gwadar, with its project director Sohail Asghar telling Independent Urdu that the institute will be operational from February 2022.
Referring to the expenditure incurred on the project, he said:
“This is a project costing Rs. 2.3 billion, of which 92% has been invested by the Chinese and 8% by the Pakistani government.”
Sohail Asghar further said:
“The work of this institution has been completed ahead of time. It was scheduled to take 24 months, but we completed it in 21 months. The project started on January 1, 2020 and was completed on September 20, 2021.”
The project director said,
“This is a gift from CPEC to the children of Gwadar.”
He said that in this institute children will be able to do three years diploma in technical and vocational courses. In these three years, he will spend one and a half years in Pakistan and one and a half years in Shandong Institute of China, with which he has a partnership.
According to Sohail Asghar:
“After the diploma, these students will be given six months of professional training in Chinese industry and their degree will be recognized internationally. In this way, employment opportunities will be created for them not only in Pakistan and China but all over the world.”
He said that there are already a few technical and vocational institutes in Gwadar, but the interesting thing about this institution of CPEC is that there will be no fee for the children of Gwadar. Travel to and from the Shandong Institute in China will be free of charge and tuition fees, as well as a monthly stipend for living there.
“Initially, first four articles will be offered here,” he added. These include cross-border e-commerce, air conditioning and refrigeration, food preservation and information technology. In addition, Chinese language will be taught to the students here for a period of three years.
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