Work on construction of a 10-square kilometre industrial free zone in Gwadar is underway and the port city alone will be able to create about 40,000 jobs having more capacity of job opportunities in the future. In an interview with APP here on Friday, Chairman, Gwadar Port Authority (GPA), Dostain Khan Jamaldini said, construction of Gwadar Free Zone was underway at the cost of US 2 billion dollars, where Chinese, Middle East, European and Pakistani investors have planned to establish 300 factories to manufacture different products.
He said, "Chinese firm is spending us 2 billion dollars for construction of roads, provision of electricity, gas and water in Gwadar Free Zone spread over 10 square kilometre of land and work will be completed within stipulated time." The chairman said work on implementation of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) had already been started in 2013 after an agreement inked between Pakistan and China.
"Work to construct new road network, railway track and communication infrastructure from Chinese province Xinjiang to Gwadar was underway. Work on different portions of CPEC in shape of roads and railway tracks is in full swing in different parts of the country including Skardu-Hawalian, Multan-Sukkur, Gwadar-Hoshab, Gwadar-Rato Dero, Mughal Kot-Zhob and others," he said.
China is investing US 46 billion dollars for construction of CPEC route infrastructure in shape of roads and railway tracks adding after the completion of infrastructure, he said. He said, under CPEC, a power plant of 300MW was being established in Gwadar which would run simultaneously on coal, diesel and gas. "LNG plant is also being established in Gwadar to meet energy requirement of new industrial units to be set up in the port city," he said.
He said, CPEC infrastructure of road network would be completed by 2018 and added that but several other projects pertaining to CPEC would continue till 2030. "It is flagship project of One Road, One Belt initiative of Chinese leadership which had several programmes and projects to be implemented till 2030," he said. He said, under CPEC project, technical and vocational training institutes were being established in Gwadar, Quetta, Khuzdar and other cities of Balochistan to provide training to youth in industrial parks being established in Balochistan as part of the CPEC.
He said, a 19km long East Bay Expressway would connect Gwadar International Airport to Gwadar Deep Sea Port, adding that the project would be completed by 2018. "Early Harvest Project is also being executed in Gwadar with the cost of Rs 14 billion," he added. The chairman GPA said, a parallel two-way railway track was being laid down alongside the East Bay Expressway.