China launches CPEC engineers' training hub in Pakistan

Beijing, Nov. 10—China’s national engineering guild and state-owned PowerChina International Group Limited have formally launched the Centre of Excellence for Engineering Capacity Building in Islamabad, the first such hub in Pakistan dedicated to training engineers for the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

The Chinese Society of Engineers (CSE) and PowerChina signed a cooperation agreement on Monday, committing to use the centre to deepen technical exchanges, share Chinese construction know-how and certify engineers for large-scale clean-energy and water projects across Pakistan.

The move builds on a mutual-recognition accord reached in June between the CSE and the Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC), a step that should ease labour bottlenecks for Chinese contractors operating in the South Asian nation.

PowerChina, one of the world’s biggest hydropower builders, will host the facility and supply on-site instructors, design modules and pilot projects, according to a joint statement released after the signing ceremony in Beijing.

Islamabad is now the fourth city—after Johannesburg, Rio de Janeiro and Cairo—to host a CSE-branded training centre, part of a push to standardize Chinese engineering practices along countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative.

China has channelled more than 25 billion USD into CPEC since 2015, but officials say a shortage of qualified local engineers has slowed progress on several power and transport schemes.

"The centre will narrow that gap," a source of the CSE Secretariat told the reporter. "We aim to certify Pakistani engineers and ensure that they could meet international standards."

Source: CSE Secretariat