Gwadar may be given special status for quicker development: Nawaz

Development work at Karakoram Highway is likely to be completed by 2015.

BEIJING: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif hinted at a fast track development of the Gwadar Port suggesting it might be accorded a special status so that the project is effectively executed. 

In a meeting with President China Overseas Port Holding Company Limited Sun Ziyun, the Prime Minister said that there should be no delay in the infrastructural development of Gwadar.

He assured that the government will extend its full cooperation to the companies investing in the port's development.

Nawaz said that the government was looking to develop an airport of international standards in Gwadar and called for early completion of repair and rehabilitation projects on Karakoram Highway.

Nawaz asserted that the highway was of utmost importance and should be rehabilitated without any delay so that bilateral trade between Pakistan and China could progress.

He urged the Chinese company to take up rehabilitation work on Attabad Lake.

Sun Ziyun responded by saying that the rehabilitation work on Attabad Lake was expected to be completed by 2016 and on Karakoram Highway a year earlier.

Sun Ziyun told Nawaz that for the development projects in Gwadar, financial assistance will be sought from the China Development Bank.

He detailed that the infrastructure of roads in Gwadar would be connected to the communication network of the rest of the country so that the transportation of goods is facilitated.