Pakistan is planning to develop inland water transport system along the Indus River that would become part of National Trade Corridor Improvement Programme. Planning Commission Member, Infrastructure, Dr Asad Ali Shah said this in a meeting of NTC task force.
An official close to the meeting told Business Recorder, this idea is at nascent stage and further work will be done on it, which is believed to be breakthrough in the government efforts to reduce the cost of doing business. The water channel would revolutionise the transport system in the country.
Further work including pre-feasibility and feasibility studies would be done by acquiring the services of reputed firm. After these studies, the proposal would be forwarded to the PC.
The issue of provision of water for the transport channel would also be discussed in the pre-feasibility study, said the official. Some circles are of the view that water availability for the channel could be ensured only after the construction of large dams especially the Kalabagh dam.
The task force established a committee on Public-Private Partnership for NTC to accelerate private sector investment in infrastructure along the corridor. The committee will also consider the development of IWTS, the official said. It was agreed that for implementation of the recently approved trucking policy, the Ministry of Industries, Production & Special Initiatives will establish a management unit for the policy implementation.
The task force reviewed the implementation status of various activities under NTC strategic framework. Launched in August 2005, the strategic framework for the National Trade Corridor Implementation Program (NTCIP) has been developed based on a holistic and integrated approach.
The project is aimed at reducing the cost of doing business, improve competitiveness and enhance productivity by improving the trade and transport logistics chain in Pakistan and bringing it up to the international standards.
Chairing a meeting to review the progress of NTC, the PC deputy chairman planning Dr Akram Sheikh said that this was a major strategic initiative to improve the logistics chain throughout the country and to interlink it with all three adjoining regions of South Asia, Central Asia and West Asia. Since inception, substantial progress has been made, undoubtedly NTCIP is moving in the right direction, he said. The task force reviewed the overall progress of all the sectors including; Ports & Shipping, Railways, Trucking, Trade Facilitation, Highways, Aviation & Air Transport, Energy Logistics & Cool Chain.
The operations of KPT, Port Qasim and Gwadar Port were reviewed to enhance their efficiency. The meeting was informed that four "Express Freight Trains" and one wheat special train running daily from Karachi to Lahore has been started. Door-to-door cargo services have been introduced from Faisalabad to Lahore, which will be expanded further to major cities.
At Jamroud construction of multimodal-agency border terminal, including access roads and other facilities has been completed. The Chaman and Taftan border terminals are under construction, while the cargo handling operation at Wagha border terminal will start shortly.
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