The traditional approaches to the integration of low-income countries have been the assembly of intermediate goods, which are generally produced in high-income countries, for re-export to the final consumers. This strategy should be re-evaluated, especially for a low-income country such as Pakistan, to integrate more value-added activities and services.

China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is an ongoing mega development project which aims to connect Gwadar port of Pakistan to China’s northwestern region of Xinjiang via a network of highways, railways and pipelines. The economic corridor is considered central to China-Pakistan relations and is stretched over 2700 km from Gwadar to Kashghar.