Gwadar Port to have 100 berths by 2045: minister

ISLAMABAD: The government jobs of grade-1 to grade-15 would be entirely recruited from Balochistan at Gwadar Port while officials of grade-16 and above would be appointed on merit from across the country, Federal Minister for Ports and Shipping, Senator Kamran Michael said during an interview with The News.
He said all the provinces would be given their due share in government job vacancies pertaining to grade-16 and above in accordance with the population.Moreover, the first and foremost right on labour related jobs would be that of the local population of Balochistan.
He said currently three berths of Gwadar Port are operational, which are not only functioning for the import of goods but also for export and it has been planned to enhance and develop the capacity of the port to 100 berths till 2045 in cooperation with the Chinese.
It is pertinent to mention here that Gwadar Port is the focal of Pak-China Economic Corridor and is also the nearest warm-water seaport to the land-locked but energy rich Central Asian Republics and Afghanistan. Michael said Gwadar Port is going to play a vital role in the economy of the country and Pakistan’s financial future is associated with it.
Since the signing of bilateral agreement between Pakistan and China regarding the economic corridor, he said, the internal and external enemies don’t want to see the project materialized.“Anyone who is opposing this project is obviously acting on some other agenda and we have also recognized them from our own ranks and files too,” he commented.
The minister further said this economic corridor would generate around two million job opportunities in Pakistan. He stressed that one must keep in mind that this is an investment of China and not a loan. He said developing Gwadar Port and Pak-China Economic Corridor is the foremost priority of the premier of Pakistan and developing these projects would ultimately lead the country towards the goal of becoming Asian Tiger. The three currently functional multipurpose berths of the deep-sea-port have a capacity to handle carriers of 30,000 deadweight tonnage (DWT) and to handle container vessels of 25,000 DWT.