Pakistan, China sign MoUs to make Gwadar modern port city

BEIJING: Pakistan and China signed various agreements and memorandums of understanding on making Gwadar a world class modern port city and on leveraging special economic zones to capture the window of opportunity for structural transformation in Pakistan.

The signing ceremony was held at Ministry of Commerce, People’s Republic of China and was witnessed by the Minister for Planning, Development & Reform Ahsan Iqbal and Chief Minister Balochistan Sanaullah Zahri, a press release said.

Both the side signed contract and implementation minutes of Gwadar Master City Plan. The parties also signed implementation minutes of Gwadar Eastbay Expressway.

Iqbal, speaking on the occasion, said that Gwadar, a jewel of Pakistan, is being built at par with port cities like Singapore and Hong Kong. As the gateway to CPEC, it has already started attracting the interest of investors, however, Gwadar would become an international smart port city soon, he added.

The minister said that the Gwadar Eastbay Expressway project has been initiated to construct 18.981 km 4-lane divided expressway with embankment for 6-lanes structures.

“It would integrate Gwadar Port with the Makran Coastal Highway as well as with the free zone and future container terminals” he remarked.

Meanwhile, Pakistan and China signed MoU on Leveraging Special Economic Zones to capture the Window of Opportunity for Structural Transformation in Pakistan.

The MoU was signed by Project Director CPEC, Hassan Daud Butt and Professor Justin Yifi Lin, the Director Center for New Structural Economics (CNSE), Peking University.