Chinese Official: 2017, A Year For Gwadar Port’s Operation

A Chinese official on Tuesday announced that a multi-million dollar port under construction by China in Pakistan is intended to be in “full operation” by the end of the year. It marks as one of the steps taken by Beijing in their ambitious economics plan in the region.

Zhang Baozhong, the chairman of the Chinese public company assigned for the development of the port stated that Gwadar port is expected to see about one million tonnes of cargo passing through it by 2017. It is located on Pakistan’s southwest coast.

In a statement to reporters, he described the current trade as “basically nothing”.

“We hope a big jump will take place… Our dream is to make Gwadar a regional trading centre,” he said.

Gwadar, which is located in Balochistan province, is considered by officials as the “heart” of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor which forms a $46 billion project granted to Beijing for a better access to the Middle East, Africa, and Europe through Pakistan.

The port started its construction in 2007 with technical assistance from Beijing including Chinese financial aid of $248 million.

The tonnage will consist of “quite a number” of building materials for the city’s development, said Zhang, which Pakistani authorities believe will be used to create another Dubai.

He stated that the local fishing industry will be the main avenue for exports, including a modern processing plant intended for the area, although a timeline was not given for the plant.

“We shall try to process it here… So that the locals can benefit,” he told reporters after the seminar.

Poor Balochistan has faced separatist insurgency since 2004, a group with the vision of attaining greater control over the province’s resources.

The Chinese have, however, been accused by some Baloch nationalists for colliding with the Pakistani elite to manipulate the province while hoarding the profits and doing little to create jobs for locals.

Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=52634

Posted by modousarr on Apr 12 2016. Filed under Latest News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.