Gwadar to be made smart port city, says minister

Development work to pick up pace under Pak-China Economic Corridor.

ISLAMABAD: Gwadar would be made a smart port city having commercial and tourist facilities like Singapore or Dubai, said Minister of Planning, Development and Reform Professor Ahsan Iqbal at a seminar.

He said the speed of development at Gwadar would increase with every single project coming on the ground under the Pakistan-China Economic Corridor.

Speaking on the potentials and prospects of Gwadar, he appreciated the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS) for focusing on such an important theme and highlighting the strength of Gwadar for becoming a model port city in future.



“The corridor is spread over entire Pakistan from south to north having several projects on energy, infrastructure, health, education and clean drinking water,” he said. “It will be developed due to its own unique geographical location and will complement other ports within and outside Pakistan through existing regional infrastructure.”

He explained the two phases of infrastructural development under the economic corridor. The first phase, he said, will link the existing motorway from Lahore to Peshawar with the motorway from Lahore to Karachi through a series of motorways.

“The second phase of the corridor, envisaging road connectivity between Gwadar, Balochistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, will also be started as the pace of development and traffic increases,” he added.

“Karakorum Highway (KKH) is being extended to Hawelian with Chinese assistance and will be completed within three years linking Ratodero with Gwadar. This will be the shortest road connectivity of Gwadar with the rest of Pakistan and attract substantial investment,” he said.

The minister announced that within the next three years transformational change in Gwadar will be phenomenal with respect to integrated infrastructure and investment opportunities.

The cluster of projects under the economic corridor will make Gwadar a commercial and tourist resort connecting three billion people of South Asia, China and Central Asia.

He said during 35 years of military rule in Pakistan desired allocations in the social sector were overlooked. “Vision 2025 is one of the initiatives of our socio-economic agenda, which will address the issues of poverty, malnutrition, provision of safe drinking water and gender inequalities.”

“No one can negate the importance of Gwadar,” said Federal Minister of Saffron Abdul Qadir Baloch.

However, he said it could be beneficial only when concerns of the Baloch people were addressed and road infrastructure in the province was improved.

“We should also prioritise to address the difficulties of Baloch people. With the development of Gwadar, this area will be transformed into a free zone and special economic zone, and for this fool-proof security arrangements are important,” said Baloch.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 30^th, 2015.

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