This April 22, 2019 photo shows Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan giving a press conference in the capital Tehran. (IRANIAN PRESIDENCY / AFP)

ISLAMABAD - Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) started with a vision of connectivity and openness.

In his virtual address at the Country Strategy Dialogue on Pakistan organized by World Economic Forum on Wednesday, the prime minister said that through enhanced road connectivity under CPEC, distances within his country have shrunk, and the planned modernization of railway lines in the next phase of CPEC is expected to help connect the region.

Pakistan's special strategic location connects it to the world's biggest markets, as well as the energy corridor. So we are really very well placed and CPEC is a great opportunity for us to move forward from here.

Imran Khan, Prime Minister, Pakistan

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"Pakistan's special strategic location connects it to the world's biggest markets, as well as the energy corridor. So we are really very well placed and CPEC is a great opportunity for us to move forward from here."

The prime minister said that at the second phase of CPEC, the scope of the project has been extended to industrialization, digitalization and agricultural development. 

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CPEC, a corridor linking the Gwadar port in southwestern Pakistan with Kashgar in northwest China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, highlights energy, transport and industrial cooperation.