Pakistan okays agreement for Karachi Terminal deal with UAE

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has approved a commercial agreement to hand over two more seaport terminals to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for 25 years.

“The Cabinet Committee on Inter-Governmental Commercial Transactions (CCoIGCT) recommended the amended commercial agreement to the Federal Cabinet for approval,” according to a late-night announcement by the finance ministry. The cabinet’s approval to give two more terminals to the UAE will be customary after the stamp of approval from its sub-committee, headed by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar.

The meeting of the CCoIGCT decided that the UAE government-owned firm will pay another US$25 million upfront adjustable against revenue sharing in the next seven years with US$3 million/annum for the first five years and US$ 5 million each in the next two years.

With the fresh decision, the UAE’s Abu Dhabi (AD) Ports will have exclusive operations and development rights on 85% of the east wharf of the Karachi port.

To modernise the terminal, the concessioner will start development work from September 2023.

Earlier, the CCoIGCT reviewed the recommendations of the negotiation committee which held its deliberation in two sessions on 8th August 2023, for the development of Bulk and General Cargo Terminal, at Karachi Port. Syed Faisal Ali Sabzwari, Syed Naveed Qamar, Khurram Dastgir Khan, SAPM on Finance Tariq Bajwa, SAPM on Revenue Tariq Mehmood Pasha, secretary Maritime Affairs, Secretary Law and Justice, chairman KPT attended the meeting.

It is pertinent to mention here that just two days ago, the same cabinet committee had refused to approve these terms and sent the Price Negotiation Committee (PNC) back with the direction to seek a higher price.