GWADAR: Gwadar set sail for new journey after PM Imran Khan’s successful visit.
As promising hanges are taking place in the booming area of Gwadar, Imran Khan reviewed progress on various development projects and witnessed the signing of Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs).
During the one-day visit, the Prime Minister performed the groundbreaking of the Gwadar Free Zone Phase Two and launched many projects such as Gwadar Fertiliser Plant, Gwadar Animal Vaccine Plant, Henan Agricultural Industrial Park, Hengmei Lubricants Plant, and Gwadar Expo Centre.
The MoUs signed during the visit included an implementation agreement of a 1.2 million gallons per day desalination plant and solar generators granted from China for south Balochistan.
These programs, also seen as deliverables of Gwadar, present the continuous exploration and efforts of the Chinese enterprises and the local community over the past eight years since the official initiation of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.
Dating back to 2013, Gwadar Port was on the verge of desolation with obsolete facilities, barely surviving the seaport business.
Since China Overseas Port Holding Company (COPHC) took over the port, the infrastructural work has been complete with three 20,000-ton multi-purpose berths (a structure reserved for 50,000-ton berths) and a storage yard of 140,000 square meters.
Gwadar Port can handle various types of cargo, such as containers, bulk cargo, groceries and ro-ro ships.
On January 14, 2020, when a whilst blows into the dawn of the Arabian Sea, Gwadar Port greeted the first ship from Dubai’s Jebel Ali Port to Afghanistan, marking the first operational use of Gwadar port for major trade activities under the Afghanistan-Pakistan Transit Trade Agreement (APTTA). The consignment unloaded at the port will be then transported to Afghanistan in trucks through the Pakistani border town of Chaman. – Agencies
