Gwadar to be developed as world’s best port city: Pakistani PM’s CPEC aide

Islamabad: Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) Imran Khan on China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Khalid Mansoor has said that CPEC hub Gwadar would be developed as the world’s best port city.

In a statement after a meeting of the Pakistani Senate Standing Committee on Planning and Development on Saturday, Mansoor maintained that investors were interested in the port city’s free zone for which 2,200 acres of land had been allotted.

He highlighted the need to appoint an administrator in the port city so that he could liaise with all departments and resolve issues.

He mentioned that the issue of reduction of Pakistani Rs 200 billion for Balochistan in the Public Sector Development Program (PSDP) fund would be raised before the Senate committee.

Earlier, the Senate Committee directed the authorities concerned to expedite the pace of CPEC projects in Gwadar and decided to send recommendations for provision of gas and other facilities in the port city to Prime Minister Imran Khan.

The upper house panel visited Gwadar during which committee chairman Saleem Mandviwalla and Khalid Mansoor spoke about uplift schemes in the port city.

Speaking on the occasion, committee chairman Saleem Mandviwalla observed that the pace of CPEC projects in Gwadar had slowed down to some extent due to the coronavirus.

He maintained that a private company was ready to supply LNG in seven months adding that water, power and gas could easily be provided to the people in Gwadar. However, he said one department was not giving No-Objection Certificate (NOC) for the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) for which they would write to PM Khan.