The benefits of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor go beyond the two countries’ interests, as it will benefit the whole region, particularly Iran, said Pakistan’s Minister of Finance, Revenue, Economic Affairs, Statistics and Privatization Mohammad Is’haq Dar. The economic corridor will connect China’s autonomous Xinjiang region to Pakistan’s Gwadar Port, IRNA reported. The mega project will shorten the current seaborne transit route of 13,000 kilometers to a 3,000-kilometer pathway. Is’haq Dar says China and Pakistan have signed contracts worth $40 billion to implement the project, which have numerous advantages in terms of the region’s economic development. In early September, Pakistani news outlet the Express Tribune quoted a senior officer in the Ministry of Commerce as saying that Islamabad had invited Iran to become part of the CPEC, adding that Iran had agreed to consider the proposal.
