China Communication Construction Company (CCCC) will provide Rs 15 billion interest-free loan to Gwadar Port Authority (GPA) for development of road and railways track, State Minister for Ports and Shipping Chaudhry Jaffar Iqbal said. Talking to reporters after a high-level meeting at Pakistan National Shipping Corporation Head Office Thursday, the minister said this Chinese financing would be used to build a six-lane road and railway track from GPA to Coastal Highway.
The minister said Gwadar Port is now ready to handle big ships and one of the biggest ships will reach Gwadar Port on October 18, 2017. He said rail service would be started to transport cargo from the newly-constructed Deep Sea Terminal to Pipri. Earlier, the minister convened a meeting at PNSC Building to review the status of various projects of the organizations and departments falling under the Ministry of Ports and Shipping.
The meeting was attended by the Director General Ports and Shipping Wing, Karachi, Asad Chandna, Chairman PNSC Arif Elahi, Executive Directors of PNSC, senior officials from KPT, PQA and Fisheries Department.
Ch Jaffar Iqbal commended the PNSC management for its consistent performance and rising profitability despite recession in the global shipping sector. He highlighted the increase in the corporation's EPS and doubling of its share price on the stock exchange within a year. The matter of improvement in PNSC's credit rating also came under discussion.
The minister appreciated the positive role being played by PNSC towards coming up with new projects essential for strengthening the country's maritime sector. These projects include oil storage facilities at Keamari and Gwadar, new marine workshop at Gwadar, provision of allied marine services by PNSC to ports in Pakistan, fleet development activities and ferry service between Karachi and Gwadar.
He emphasized the importance of these projects for supporting the government's CPEC initiative and stressed the timely completion of projects within the assigned budget for each project. The minister assured the participants of the government's full support in ensuring that the projects are executed in a transparent manner and in compliance with all underlying rules and regulations.
Taking personal interest in the said projects, Jaffar Iqbal assured the participants that he will periodically visit the project sites personally from time to time and instructed that periodic updates be provided to him on time. The minister also undertook to personally intervene to remove impediments that the projects may encounter during the execution phase.
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