Ambassador Durrani
WASHINGTON, Feb 14 (APP): The newly constructed Gwadar deep sea port and development of extensive infrastructure providing regional linkages will help to transform Pakistan into a trade and energy corridor, ambassador to the United States, Mahmud Ali Durrani, said. He told a gathering of students, experts and diplomats at John Hopkins University that Pakistan, through development of the strategically located modern port in the southern Balochistan province, is poised to serve as a gateway for commerce and transportation among South Asia, energy-rich but landlocked Central Asia, China and the oil-rich Gulf countries.
Among the major projects being materialized under a master plan, the ambassador listed modernizing of highways, shipping, better border terminals, establishment of rail and road network, banking system, insurance, custom clearance, freight management, trucking, increasing efficiency of logistics chain and telecommunication connectivity.
He was confident that with continued economic upsurge and sustained inflow of investment, Pakistan would be able to carry out multi-billion dollars projects in time and utilize Gwadar port’s key location to the best economic advantage for its people and the region.
“Any land-based trade between the Gulf region and South Asian states can at best take place through Pakistan. Pakistan’s proximity to the Gulf region, Iran, Afghanistan, China and Central Asia makes all of us natural trading partners, on the East, Pakistan is the ideal approach for shipment of Indian goods to Afghanistan and the Central Asian markets,” he observed.
In the context of the country’s potential to serve as energy corridor, he said, the most economical transshipment of fuel from energy-rich Gulf, Iran, Turkmenistan to energy-deficient India would best transit through Pakistan. This, he added, is particularly so in respect of natural gas pipelines from Iran and Turkmenistan.
He also underlined the importance of security and stability in the region for realization of ambitious economic development plans.
Ambassador Durrani said the launch of unprecedented development activity in Balochistan has already started accruing benefits to the local people as the pursuance of projects has generated a lot of employment opportunities for them and stepped up overall pace of progress.
In answer to a question, the ambassador stressed that Pakistan has designed the Gwadar for trade and not as some sort of military corridor.
“We have designed it purely for trade through road and rail infrastructure,” he stated.
Pakistan, he said, has signed a quadrilateral agreement with China, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan for transit trade facilitation, which has been operational since 2004.
He informed the gathering that Singapore Port Authority has been awarded a 40-year contract to operate Gwadar port, constructed with the help of China last year.
The envoy spoke of plans for future development of the port, which is expected to capture one-third of the national cargo traffic market by 2055, translating into 350 million tones.
Gwadar will also emerge as a major industrial and exports zone following its notification as a tax-free economic zone, he added.
Fredrick Star, chairman of the Central Asian Caucuses Institute, moderated the presentation and praised Pakistan’s vision for development as inspiring and remarkable.
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