Monitoring and evaluation in south-south cooperation: The case of CPEC in Pakistan

Abstract

Pakistan is a key country in China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) where the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is under implementation. An investment model of financing through loans, grants and private investments, CPEC is an example of South-South cooperation (SSC) having a number of benefits for both countries. Aimed at developing energy, industry, and communication infrastructure, the corridor initially valued at $46 billion but is now worth $62 billion. CPEC is expected to contribute significantly to socio-economic development and regional connectivity and trade. The main research question is, while implementing projects in Pakistan, to what extent China adheres to its avowed principles comprising features such as mutual respect, non-conditionality, equality, building local capacity and addressing actual needs of partner countries. Based mainly on the analysis of primary data collected during fieldwork in Pakistan, this research explores the extent to which the official narrative influences the actual practice of China's development cooperation on the ground. To critically examine CPEC, this chapter uses a monitoring and evaluation framework developed by the Network of Southern Think Tanks (NeST), which is dedicated to generating systematic and clearly comparable knowledge on SSC (Besharati et al. 2017). The findings illustrate that, as per the five broad dimensions of the SSC framework, the China-Pakistan partnership under CPEC has performed well in the four areas of inclusive national ownership, horizontality, self-reliance and sustainability, and development effectiveness, but it has lagged in accountability and transparency.