Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

There is a growing need to examine the relationship between ‘Growth’ and ‘Development’, and the issues that surface when both these terms, in the context of developing countries, are used synonymously. Growth is assessed by measuring market production through indicators such as the GDP and GNI, whereas Development is contingent on a larger set of variables including health, education, and quality of life. By drawing a clear distinction between the two, I intend to understand how planning is done when the aim is growth, versus how it is done when the aim is development.

The regional focus of this paper is on Pakistan, and on the agencies that claim to develop its economy through various programs and initiatives in the country. Majority of these programs have been funded by the main agents of aid and investment in Pakistan: International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, and recently the China-Pak Economic Corridor (CPEC), a constituent of China’s One Belt One Road (OBOR) initiative.

CPEC, a $46 billion investment by China into Pakistan, is considered to be a testimony to the 66 years of friendship between the two countries and claims to bring ‘peace, development and growth’ in Pakistan (Government of Pakistan 2017). It is also an extension of the China Pakistan ‘Friendship Highway’, known as the Karakoram highway (KKH) that was built by the two countries in 1979; this will connect China with the Port of Gwadar in the south of Pakistan. Gwadar port, which lies on the Arabian Sea, has seen the most pronounced investment till date through CPEC in the form of Special Economic Zones (SEZs), Industrial Parks, and an International Airport.

The local fishing community in Gwadar, however, is struggling to retain its place in the rapidly evolving city. Development is best measured at a scale where its impact on people is visible, for this reason this paper also studies the social and economic changes taking place in the local fisherfolk community of Gwadar. It examines the process by which CPEC as a whole is being marketed and implemented in the country, and addresses the need for a more transparent process, greater inclusivity, and a policy framework which ensures that economic growth translates into development and progress for local communities.