GAWADAR: Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbassi on Monday said that the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is a vital and crucial initiative which would have positive impacts on the generations to come. He expressed these views at the inauguration ceremony of the first-ever International Gwadar Expo 2018.
“This is perhaps the most important development of our generation and the most visible part of the One Belt One Road (OBOR) Initiative,” he remarked.
Abbasi said that Balochistan is being governed by the democratically elected leaders which shows the progress made in the last few years.
“Political leaders of the province have to resolve their issues themselves, otherwise they will never be solved,” the premier implored.
Abbassi shared his experience at the World Economic Forum, which was held in Davos last week. He said that the theme of the forum ‘Shared Future in Fractured World’ can be seen getting manifested in the Chinese President Xi Jinping’s vision behind the OBOR initiative.
The Gwadar Expo, jointly organized by Gwadar Development Authority (GDA) and China Overseas Ports Holding Company (COPHC), hosted foreign dignitaries, ambassadors and people from the business community across the world.
The expo provided a platform for interaction between local and foreign business entrepreneurs, financiers, investors and government officials to utilize and the benefit from this mega project for enhanced investment, business and employment opportunities.
A business centre has also been set up by the COPHC, which will provide a one-window operation for matters including immigration, customs, visa operations and port clearance facilities.
COPHC Chairman Zhang Baozhong said that with the construction of Free Zones, the port city of Gwadar would become a big commercial hub in the region.
In an interview, the COPHC chairman said that development in Gwadar would help improve the overall economic conditions of the local people and the country on the whole.
Zhang said for construction of Gwadar Free Zone, China had employed around two thousand local people keeping in view their involvement in the mega project.
He said that Expo is a platform to attract delegations from countries including Saudi Arabia, Iran and United Arab Emirates (UAE) specially in the field of fishing, embroidery and dairy products.