Gwadar Port operational for Afghan Transit Trade

By Masood Sattar Khan
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

Pakistan took another major initiative to ensure maximum utilization facilities at Gwadar Port, when the Ministry of Commerce announced to operationalize Gwadar Port for use of Afghan Transit Trade under Afghanistan-Pakistan Transit Trade Agreement 2010 (APTTA 2010).

The shipments of sugar, fertilizer and wheat will be transported in sealed trucks to Afghanistan. In this regard, 16000 MT of DAP and WFP cargo having 500,000 MT of wheat for Afghanistan will be arriving next month. Ships from China will also offload at Gwadar. 

This major step will jump-start Gwadar port operations according to TM Developers Gwadar, who made this announcement through Twitter. 

Besides, massive operations activities at Gwadar Port, the move will also ensure necessary ecosystem for another big seaport of Pakistan. 

This initiative will fulfill the long standing request of the business community and the shipping industry demanding early operationalization of the port, thus generating business and employment opportunities, particularly for the local youths as well as people living along highways. 

The port features prominently in the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) plan, and would be an important part of Belt and Road Initiative and the Maritime Silk Road projects. It is about 120 kilometres southwest of Turbat. 

In 2015, it was decided that the city and port would be developed under CPEC with the aim of linking northern Pakistan and western China to the deep water seaport.