ISLAMABAD - Gwadar is set sail for new journey after Prime Minister Imran Khan’s recent successful visit to the city where he inaugurated a number of mega projects, Gwadar Pro reported yesterday.

As promising changes are taking place in the booming area of Gwadar, Imran Khan reviewed progress on various development projects and witnessed the signing of various MoUs during the visit.

During the one-day visit, the Prime Minister performed the groundbreaking of the Gwadar Free Zone Phase Two and launched many projects such as Gwadar Fertiliser Plant, Gwadar Animal Vaccine Plant, Henan Agricultural Industrial Park, Hengmei Lubricants Plant, and Gwadar Expo Centre. 

The MoUs signed during the visit included an implementation agreement of a 1.2 million gallons per day desalination plant and solar generators granted from China for south Balochistan. 

These programs, also seen as deliverables of Gwadar, present the continuous exploration and efforts of the Chinese enterprises and the local community over the past eight years since the official initiation of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.

Since China Overseas Port Holding Company (COPHC) took over the port, the infrastructural work has been complete with three 20,000-ton multi-purpose berths (a structure reserved for 50,000-ton berths) and a storage yard of 140,000 square meters. 

Gwadar Port can handle various types of cargo, such as containers, bulk cargo, groceries and ro-ro ships.

On January 14, 2020, when a whilst blows into the dawn of the Arabian Sea, Gwadar Port greeted the first ship from Dubai’s Jebel Ali Port to Afghanistan, marking the first operational use of Gwadar port for major trade activities under the Afghanistan-Pakistan Transit Trade Agreement (APTTA). 

The consignment unloaded at the port will be then transported to Afghanistan in trucks through the Pakistani border town of Chaman.

Since then, the seaport has been busier with LPG ships and a dozen vessels carrying fertilizers, urea bags, and other goods from Dubai, UAE, Australia, and other countries shuttling back and forth for transit to Afghanistan. 

As per an interview with the Chairman of CPEC Authority Asim Bajwa, during the last few months, over 67,000 metric tonnes of cargo have been handled at the port.

The successful operation of Gwadar Port transit trade to Afghanistan also lays the foundation for expanding this trade network to Central Asia and Russia and further cemented by an agreement between COPHC and COSCO Shipping Lines signed in 2018 to launch the Gwadar-Gulf Express. 

The deal ensures that Mina Jebel Ali, Karachi, Qasim, and Abu Dhabi, as transit ports along COSCO’s 16 international lines, will be ready to serve global customers, and Gwadar Port would connect almost all large ports in the world.

Economic and industrial development and improving livelihood and social progress are of equal importance for CPEC projects. The shortage of drinking water had long been a challenge confronted by local residents.