SAPM Asim Bajwa says first cargo ship reached Gwadar

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Information and Broadcasting, Lieutenant General (retired) Asim Saleem Bajwa said on Saturday that the first bulk cargo ship has reached the port city of Gwadar.

The first bulk cargo ship called MV Manet is carrying wheat and urea as a part of the Afghan Transit trade, said the China Pakistan Economic Corridor project chairman.

“A dream come true for local economy as it will stimulate host of business activity” said the SAPM on Twitter.

Due to the coronavirus outbreak, the Afghan Transit trade saw occasional hiccups in the form of closure of the border crossing for sometime.

In January this year, the Gwadar port started handling transit cargo destined for Afghanistan.

The war-torn country has relied on Pakistani land routes and the two ports of Karachi and Port Qasim for international trade after a bilateral agreement, known as the Afghan Transit Trade Agreement (ATTA), was signed with Islamabad.

CPEC is a collection of projects currently under construction at a cost of more than $50 billion. The major portion will be spent for enhancing energy capacity of the country and almost $12 billion on infrastructure-related projects.