Caretaker Minister for Maritime Affairs and Foreign Affairs, Abdullah Hussain Haroon said that the US multinational oil and gas company has so far drilled up to 5,000 metres close to the Iranian border and is optimistic about huge oil discovery.
Speaking at a meeting of Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI), he expressed hope that Exxon Mobil was close to hitting huge oil reserves near the Pak-Iran border. He said that the government had already taken an undertaking from the company to set up a generation complex worth $10 billion. "Foreign investors are interested in coming to Pakistan, provided we manage to meet their standards and attract them to make investment," he asserted.
Haroon emphasized the need for integrating the Karachi Port and Port Qasim so that they could supplement each other in the larger interest of the country. The minister said there was a greater need to have new area for fish harbour because the existing one has many issues and there is shortage of land. However, he regretted that the harbour was not in satisfactory condition. He hoped European Union (EU) would assist in establishment of new fish harbour.
FPCCI president Ghazanfar Bilour said that Pakistan trade was facing global competition both in terms of marketing products and trade diplomacy as the agreement signed by Pakistan to expand exports were not providing potential benefits.
He appreciated the role of foreign ministry in achieving GSP Plus status from the EU but pointed out that there was a need to find a lobbyist to get GSP from USA for the textile products. "We need strong advocacy to achieve market access for Pakistani products in other leading markets, and of course, correction in the existing bilateral trade agreements," he urged.
Bilour stressed on the need for further development in maritime sector especially in areas such as ship construction, expansion of national shipping fleet and improvement of port infrastructure for docking modern vessels with larger cargo carrying capacity.
He pointed out that creation of inland water transport would be a feasible solution for its environment-friendly, least costly, fuel-efficient and less-hazardous mode of transportation.
FPCCI vice president Tariq Haleem highlighted the need for bringing down the cost of doing business and improve the efficiency at all Pakistan ports. Even a single rupee of extra cost at the ports would have trickle-down positive effects for the masses.
He said that at Karachi Port, about 27 million tons (import and export) of dry and liquid cargo is handled, annually. He said these volumes were not satisfactory. He said extreme shortage of space at the Karachi Port was surprising, keeping in view the fact that this port was one of the biggest land owners of the city.
He suggested that since the port land was occupied by parties on weak stay orders or land-grab mafia, immediate action was required on war footing basis to get back the land.
Talking about the importance of inland waterways he said that there was a need to connect Sindh and Punjab and onwards to restart the movement of people and goods through inland waterways. He said it would reduce the cost of transportation considerably. "When you re-commission your inland waterways then automatically flood management is done and wastage of water is curtailed," he said.
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