Daily Times

KARACHI: With the inclusion of Gwadar Port in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project (CPEC), the government of Pakistan has decided to update the existing plans of Gwadar city to reflect the new strategic direction.

Under the new plan, the government is starting process to evaluate the existing environmental condition of Gwadar, and in this regard government is hiring services of a laboratory to undertake environmental monitoring sampling and testing of ambient air, noise, drinking water and wastewater in project area.

The current master plan of Gwadar city (last updated in 2005) has two interdependent elements: the port, and the city of Gwadar.

This strategic focus on simultaneous development is primarily due to the natural, symbiotic relationship that exists between a port and the city that surrounds it; one cannot be developed without the other.

In addition, the city around a port must also be planned carefully in order to lay foundation of a sustainable regional economy, drive local business and increase port throughput, said the government.

The government said that there is an urgent need to update the existing city plan of Gwadar to reflect the new strategic direction. The development of Gwadar is a strategic priority for the Government of Pakistan.

The commercial, political, socio-economic, defence and regional connectivity related benefits that can be realised once the port (and the city) reaches its full potential make it imperative to develop the area without any further delay.

Lying at the mouth of the Persian Gulf, Gwadar is a strategic deep sea port developed by the government of Pakistan with assistance from the People’s Republic of China.

Inaugurated in 2007, the port is ideally located to serve the shipping lanes coming in and out of the Persian Gulf via the choke-point of the Strait of Hormuz. In spite of the fact that the sea channels off the coast of Gwadar carry roughly 15-17 million barrel of oil every day (or a third of all the seaborne oil traded in the world), the port of Gwadar has yet to fulfil its promise and take advantage of its strategic location.

A shortage of resources, the non-fulfilment of concession agreements by the government of Pakistan and the original concessionaire (the port of Singapore Authority), and the limited commercial activity in Gwadar city have together limited the development of the port over the few years.

Published in Daily Times, November 24^th 2017.