The life of 32-year-old Shakeela Kosar took a new turn last year when her Chinese colleague shared the good news of her promotion as an assistant manager of their company in recognition of her hard work and services.

"It was a big day for me because I achieved my promotion by sheer hard work and punctuality through the years," said Kosar, who joined the Orange Line metro train project in Lahore in 2016 as a receptionist. The project was jointly constructed by China Railway Group Co., Ltd. and China North Industries Co., Ltd..

The Chinese and Pakistani staff worked together on the Orange line project, which brought a revolution in the public transport domain of Lahore by introducing Pakistan's first state-of-the-art electric train, she said, adding that the project also helped her achieve her dreams.

"If talent is polished and promoted, it can do wonders," she said. "Now my female colleagues and other women see me as a role model, and I give its credit to my Chinese colleagues who played a great role in my career development," the assistant manager told Xinhua, holding a bright golden award she won as an outstanding employee.

Kosar was one of the 34 local employees who were recommended by their companies to receive an award for outstanding performance in different projects of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) across Pakistan during the year 2022.

The CPEC's outstanding local employees, including engineers, managers, researchers, and support staff, received the awards from the Pakistani Minister of Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Ahsan Iqbal at a ceremony held in the Chinese embassy here.

In a conversation with Xinhua, the award-winning employees said that they have been provided with ample opportunities to show their talent.

Umar Farooq Diyal, manager at the China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC), has worked on numerous projects in Pakistan after joining the company in 2009, but the highlight of his work is participating in the construction of the 392-km Sukkur-Multan Motorway, the largest transportation infrastructure under the CPEC project.

"My experience with my Chinese colleagues is totally reshaping my work," he said, adding that his hard work has shown good results and his company gave him more opportunities to do important work on construction sites in other countries.

The employees working on different projects told Xinhua that the incentive mechanism will drive them to work harder and make their due contributions to the CPEC.

Launched in 2013, the CPEC is a corridor linking Pakistan's Gwadar Port with Kashgar in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, which highlights energy, transport and industrial cooperation.