SHAFAQNA PAKISTAN (Shia News Agency)
Gwadar Port is the third deep sea port in Pakistan after Karachi and Port Qasim. Located on the western end of Baluchistan coast, Gwadar has 600km long coastal belt with beaches and bays. It lies just 624 nautical km to the east of Strait of Hormuz, which is an important rout of oil tankers bound for Japan and western countries out of Persian Gulf. Once a small fishing town along the Makran Coast is now set to be become a mega seaport which will fulfill the requirement of three strategically important regions the oil rich Middle East, heavily populated South Asia and Western China and the economically emerging resource-laden region of Central Asia.
The Gawadar project had been in discussion since long but it could not be made operational and now finally the port is set to be handed over to a credible operator who has signalled a willingness to also invest in the associated infrastructure to bring the facility into operation. This is a good development and deserves to be received with optimism.Thus far the port is handling less than 3pc of the cargo that Karachi does between its two harbours. In February, the port was handed over to the China Overseas Port Holding company as part of a larger transition towards making it operational. Issues surrounding the acquisition of land from the navy and coastguard were also resolved, and over 2,000 acres are set to be transferred to the port authorities for building an industrial park. China also has invested 200million dollar to building a coastal highway that will connect the Gwadar port with Karachi, Establishment of industrial zone, oil storage and refining facilities adjacent to the port and export possibility of abundant mineral resources of Baluchistan, particularly from Saindak Copper-Gold Project, makes it more attractive. The Saindak project had also been leased out to a Chinese firm.
It is hoped that this port would help Pakistan to increase its import, export and also soon Pakistan would be a gateway for the international trade.
pakistan.shafaqna.com
