ISLAMABAD: The proposed Havelian dry port in the Haripur district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will facilitate the freight trade between Pakistan and China.
The dry port is a proposed project of Pakistan Railways, and will be financed through the Chinese government’s concessional loans.
The port will have railhead facilities, high speed/capacity stock, an off-dock terminal for handling bonded import/export containers to meet the demand of future freight traffic under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. It will initially serve as a dry port and container terminal for products arriving by road from China via the Karakoram Highway.
According to Hassan Daud Butt, chief executive officer of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Board of Investment, the development of Havalian Dry Port would spur growth and prosperity in the region by providing jobs to the locals and raising their living standards. “The project will attract massive domestic and international investment, reducing unemployment, increasing per-capita income, and improving the quality of life for local residents.”
He informed WealthPK that technical and financial aspects of the project had been fine-tuned and the project was likely to be launched during this year. He said the dry port project would help ‘transform’ Pakistan’s economy. –INP
