The President noted that the economic corridor will provide a link to deliver goods to the worldwide markets through the Gawadar Port and generate robust business and industrial activities not only in Pakistan and China but also in the whole region.
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The rest of the land will be handed over under the agreement with the public China Overseas Port Holding Company “soon”, senior Pakistani government officials told AFP.
The ceremony will be held in Gwadar on Wednesday and will be attended by the Chinese delegation headed by Vice Chairman of National Development and Reform Commission Wang Xiaodao, who has already arrived in Pakistan. The Pakistani delegation will be led by Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Reform Ahsan Iqbal.
It will improve the liberalization of the service trade of China-Pakistan FTA, with easier financing for enterprises and ensuring the smooth running of major governmental projects such as the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), the MOC said.
Gwadar port was built in 2007 with technical help from Beijing as well as Chinese financial assistance of a few $248 million.
The Pakistan government has also committed to form a special security force of between 10,000 and 25,000 men to protect Gwadar port and the Chinese workers.
The contract will allow China to build an export zone and an global airport, Balochistan’s top provincial official said on Tuesday.
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Desperately poor Balochistan has been roiled since 2004 by a separatist insurgency aimed at seeking greater control over the province’s rich oil, gas and mineral resources.
