The religious tourism supply chain along the Sukkur-Multan Motorway in Pakistan : a case study

“This report presents a case study of the Sukkur–Multan motorway (M5) in Pakistan, a 295-mile, six-lane highway that connects the city of Sukkur in northern Sindh with the city of Multan in southern Punjab. The M5 is part of the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor, a flagship program of China’s strategically important Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Both Sukkur and Multan are centers for religious tourism in Pakistan. Using religious tourism as the sector of study, we seek to understand how new supply chains develop around a transport corridor and affect the value added at each node of the supply chain, known as the value chain. We found that positive social and private benefits resulted from the reshaping of the supply chain consequent of the M5. Specifically, the factors resulting in a positive benefit are the increase in access provided by the motorway, investments in online services, and specialization within the supply chain. This report will be useful to policymakers and policy analysts in the 60-plus countries that run infrastructure programs under the BRI who may be interested in the supply chain potential of transport corridors.”