CPEC: So far $474mn invested in Gwadar free zone

The Gwadar free zone has so far attracted direct investment of about $474 million from some 30 companies involved in business ranging from logistics to fish processing.

Revealing details about it, Gwadar Port Authority Chairman Dostain Khan Jamaldini said that the multi-million dollar Gwadar port is now operational. “In the beginning, the port is expected to see one million tonnes of cargo going through it,” Jamaldini quoted CGTN, a Chinese news channel.

The Gwadar Port chief was of the view that the port city will bridge Pakistan with the rest of world in coming years. Speaking about CPEC, Jamaldini termed the corridor as the most viable, active and the most swiftly implemented component corridor of the Belt and Road initiative. “It is linking Pakistan not only with western China but with the central Asian countries," he said.

Jamaldini further said that the port connectivity, port collection area, production area are in final stages of completion and is receiving ships from the ship from China Ocean Shipping (Group) Company (COSCO) on regular basis. “We are hopeful that with the start of industrial production in the free zone, the frequency of the ships will increase," he said.

On the other hand, Saudi Arabia too has agreed to invest in Gawdar by constructing an oil refinery in Gwadar. According to Petroleum Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan, the state-owned Pakistan State Oil will partner with Saudi oil giant Aramco on the project.