ISLAMABAD:
Commercial business at the Gwadar seaport will commence mid-April onwards as the authorities have acquired possession of 2,231 acres of land, from Pakistan Navy and Pakistan Coast Guard respectively, to establish free-trade zones in the area.
“Our target is to make the port fully operational by mid-April and by that time the first commercial ship will dock at the port and a new ship lane will be operational thereafter,” the managing director of the Gwadar Port Authority (GPA), Dostain Khan Jamaldini, told a private media outlet in an interview.
He said infrastructure development at the port was in final stages while work was in full swing to establish free-trade zones. Jamaldini further added that a large number of national and international companies have already started establishing display and business centres at the port.
The Chinese authorities have shared their master plan with the port authorities, according to the managing director.
Exhibition and expo-centres will be established at the free-trade zones to display national and international products. The companies showcasing their products at these centres would be bound to use the Gwadar port to export their products. Jamaldini said a large number of national and international companies have evinced interest in establishing their business centres at the free-trade zones.
After the completion of the northern portion of the M-8 by June, shipping containers would not come to Karachi from Gwadar but would directly go to northern parts of the country via Uttal, Khuzdar and Sukkur, he added.
“Construction of this route will save 400-kilometre distance as currently shipping containers have to go from Gwadar via Uttal, Karachi, Hyderabad and then to Sukkur,” he said.