‘Dream come true’ as first bulk cargo ship reaches Gwadar

ISLAMABAD: In a landmark milestone of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project, the first bulk cargo ship has reached Gwadar’s port, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Information Gen (retd) Asim Saleem Bajwa announced as he characterised it as a “dream come true”.

In a tweet on Saturday, Bajwa, who is also Chairman of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor Authority (CPECA), wrote: “The cargo ship namely MV Manet that is part of Afghan Transit Trade is carrying wheat and urea.”

He termed the development a “dream come true” for the local economy as it would stimulate host of business activity in the country.

The cargo containers would be transported by road to Afghanistan. The landlocked country mostly relies on Pakistani overland routes for its international trade, and for this purpose the two countries signed the Afghan-Pakistan Transit Trade Agreement (APTTA) in 2010 to use two seaports in Karachi for the transportation of goods to and from Afghanistan.

However, the deep sea port at Gwadar offers a much shorter route for Afghanistan’s cargo. The first cargo ship carrying containers for Afghan transit trade had arrived at Gwadar in January this year.

The port is a central part of the CPEC mega project being executed with the assistance of China to improve connectivity between the two countries in particular and with the whole region in general.

CPEC is a $60 billion endeavour which includes various projects such as construction of roads and railway infrastructure, electricity projects, airports, special economic zones, agriculture, and projects for socio-economic development of the local communities.