Over the decades, Gwadar was in the dark. Light of education was dim. Local people had little hope for a better future. Eventually fortune descended. As a result a school, located in most backward area devoid of basic studying facilities, marked the dawn of new era of educational excellence making everyone sit up and take a notice. Students of school obtained 95 percent passing percentage in national examination first time in the history of Gwadar as well as Balochistan province.

All credit goes to China Overseas Port Holding Company (COPHC), Pakistan which did the wonder by making available best learning services to primary and middle students after establishing Pakistan-China Friendship School in Gwadar.

Given the adverse situation teeming with impoverishment, where people do not dream to educate their kids as they know neither government has resources nor they have financial capacity to make things happen, such high scores are stunning. It is definitely a breakthrough that will go a long way in equipping the local people with excellent education to help them keep pace

Zhang Baozhong, Chairman of China Overseas Port Holding Company (COPHC), Pakistan laid bare the facts that Gwadar port development was not limited to terminal handling capabilities, storage, logistics, road, airport and free zone rather it worked for ensuring decent life for local community.

Initially school had primary level with size of 150 students. Later it got upgraded to middle class extending the capacity of 573 students.

China Fund for Peace and Development (CFPD) teamed up with COPHC to construct the school in Gwadar on the donated land by a 65-year old local man named Shair Mohammad, who had contributed his 752 square meters land to promote education in the area. With the cost of around $ 1 million, school was built in 10 months. The school was built by a subsidiary of China Communications Construction Company Ltd. (CCCC), CCCC-FHDI Engineering Co., Ltd. During the construction process, the local people continued visiting the site every day, anxiously waiting for completion of the new school. The local people applauded Chinese for their kind gesture and offered a lot of help.

On 26 August, 2016, school became a reality. On 1 September, 2016, Nawaz Sharif, then Prime Minister visited Gwadar, and inaugurated the school with then Chinese Ambassador Sun Weidong.

COPHC donated books to help the school in setting up its library and hundreds of school uniforms to all students according to local standard.

According to the request of the CFPD and the government of Gwadar, the school management committee was established by China Overseas Port Holding Company (COPHC), Gwadar Port Authority (GPA), Gwadar Development Authority (GDA) and Deputy Commissioner of Gwadar. Chairman of COPHC, Zhang Baozhong took the post of the Chairman of committee. COPHC is working very hard to make school into a model school.

Meanwhile, COPHC has been sparing no effort to transform Gwadar port into a state of art seaport in the world. Millions of dollars have been poured in to renovate port facilities since 2013 and now the port has improved to its remarkable capacity.

The business promotion of Gwadar Free Zone has been started and the first edition of investment guide has already been officially issued. The Free Zone Phase II, III, IV will develop into manufacturing zone, focusing mainly on agriculture processing, fish processing, marble processing, halal food processing, and refrigerated storage/cold chain. There are container yards for warehousing of international purchasing, transit/distribution, packing/labeling, stuffing & de-stuffing, trans-shipment, light end-assembly/re-assembly, and supporting services for value added exports. To provide one window solution, financial services assistance for the investors is now fully functional.

December 29, 2016, the 6th Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC) meeting on Long- Term Planning of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) held in Beijing Mr. Zhang Baozhong, chairman of COPHC apprised of development of Gwadar Port and said with sufficient wisdom and courage, COPHC overcame lots of difficulties and achieved unprecedented success in the operation of port, the construction of Free Zone, investment attraction and livelihood projects, ect.

Seeking inspirations from COPHC’s success in Pakistan-China Friendship School, Balochistan government and Chinese company CMEC are heading to construct new schools in Gwadar employing prefabrication technology under a public-private partnership programme.

Balochistan CM Jam Kamal Khan Alyani and CMEC General Manager Li Kan held a parley to discuss modalities and line of action to make things happen. The Chinese company has intended to assist Gwadar to transfer its agriculture system to new technological advancement. It promised to transfer modern agriculture techniques to students besides awarding them scholarships for higher studies in China.

With a view to make Gwadar port fully functional, a number of projects are making headway. Among them, key projects feature construction of Gwadar International Airport, construction of East-Bay Expressway, Infrastructure development for Free Zone, construction of breakwaters, dredging of berthing areas & channels, coal-based Power Plant, Pak-China Technical & Vocational Institute, potable water, China-Pakistan Friendship Hospital (Up-gradation of existing 50 bedded hospital), Clean & Green Gwadar and Gwadar Smart Port City Master Plan. Projects are in different stages of completion. Some just commenced and some are ready to takeoff.

On the shores of the Arabian Sea in the western province of Balochistan the Gwadar Port is strategically a well located port to ensure increasing trade in the region. The Port is located at the mouth of the Persian Gulf, just outside the Straits of Hormuz, near the key shipping routes accommodating a flow of more than 18 million barrel oil per day and a large quantity of bulk, break-bulk and containerized cargo.

In the east, the port neighbours the emerging Indian and South East Asian economies. On land, the port springs the Pak-China Economic Corridor and has connectivity with all major markets of Pakistan which will be further extended to neighboring markets of China, Iran, Afghanistan, and other landlocked CAR’s market in due course of time.