ISLAMABAD - In a major breakthrough, Pakistan unveiled a roadmap to establish a new shipyard at Gwadar with the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) by the federal and provincial governments at a special ceremony held in Quetta the other day.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Federal Minister for Defence Production Zubaida Jalal had said that the federal and provincial governments are jointly making efforts for the socioeconomic development of Balochistan as it holds economic future of Pakistan.

The Minister said that not only ships would be built at the proposed new shipyard, but it would also provide repairing facilities in the region and training facilities would also be available.

She said that this project is of great regional importance strategically and after completion it will not only create employment for the locals, but will also boost revenue for the provincial economy.

The minister also said that in the first phase technical and managerial human resources would come from other areas of the country, but after completion of training, locals would be inducted on these posts.

“The project office has been opened in Gwadar and after completion of its feasibility study in two to three years, the construction of the project will start,” she added.

Balochistan Chief Minister Jam Kamal Khan while speaking on the occasion said that joint initiatives of federal and provincial governments will usher in a new era of prosperity and economic development in the province.

Shipyard after completion will offer ship-building and training facilities

“Construction of Gwadar shipyard will benefit the business community in general and population of Balochistan as a whole,” he said. 

“The provincial government is planning to promote tourism in Gwadar with construction of special jetty, fish processing units and other projects. However, he made it clear that the shipyard project will not affect the population.

The MoU was signed by Secretary Industry Balochistan Hafiz Abdul Majid and Additional Secretary Defence Production Ghulam Jaffar in the presence of the federal minister and the chief minister.

The landmark development comes after the Gwadar Development Authority (GDA) had demarcated 750 acres of land for the new shipyard project aiming at boosting socio-economic development in Balochistan province, regarded as the future economic zone of Pakistan. 

Apart from offering essential dry docking facilities to the cargo ships visiting Gwadar port, the Gwadar Shipyard would also offer services for building new ships.

Maritime analysts believe the Gwadar Shipyard being a key industry and a job multiplier would help boost national economy and social development. 

At present, Pakistan’s shipbuilding, repair and maintenance work is undertaken at the state-owned Karachi Shipyard & Engineering Works (KSEW). 

KSEW has built over 500 commercial and naval vessels of different types for both local and international customers since its inception in the mid-50s. The biggest vessel built by Karachi Shipyard was merchant ship Al Abbas, of 28,000 deadweight tonnage (DWT).

At the global level China, Japan and South Korea are currently dominating the global shipbuilding industry.