Making presence felt: Chinese group to set up exhibition centre at Gwadar

Will facilitate Pakistani businesses in placing orders.

ISLAMABAD: The Chinese Guangdong Logistic Industry Association will establish a huge display and exhibition centre at Gwadar port with capacity of displaying more than 50,000 varieties of Chinese products at a time.

This was agreed by a six-member delegation of the Guangdong Logistic Industry Association, who visited the port along with the chief executive officer (CEO) of the Chinese Overseas Ports Holding Company, Pakistan to examine the port for establishing one of the largest exhibition centres of Chinese goods.

A senior official of the Gwadar port told The Express Tribune that the delegation led by the general secretary of the Guangdong Logistic Industry Association visited Gwadar Port from May 22 to 24 and met port officials and businessmen at Gwadar. The Chinese industrialists agreed to establish one of the largest exhibition centres in Pakistan over a land piece of 25-acre. The capacity of the exhibition and display centre will be for more than 50,000 different Chinese products, said the official.

According to the official, after establishing this display centre, there will not be a need for Pakistani businessmen to visit China for import and export purposes, rather they will be able put their orders to the representatives of hundreds of Chinese companies available at the display centre.

The official said that soon formal agreements will be signed between Pakistani authorities and Guangdong Logistic Industry Association, where Pakistan will provide land in the port and the association will establish the exhibition centre and make the investment. The official was hopeful that more such business delegations will huge investment to the port.

Gwadar Port Authority Chairman Dostain Khan Jamaldini said that development work on the port has started, and all efforts are being made to make it operational at the earliest possible time as Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has given it highest priority. He said that the Chinese company responsible for operation of the port had also submitted a business and marketing plan a few ago, which is under review.

The next step would involve acquiring funds from the Chinese government and inviting private Chinese investors to inject money into various businesses in the free trade zone of the port.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 27^th, 2014.

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