Gwadar port to be completed in 2007: minister

QUETTA: “The development work on the Gwadar Port will be completed by 2007,” Babar Ghauri, the federal minister for shipping and ports, claimed on Saturday.

The minister told a press conference that the port would help Pakistan establish trade relations with Central Asia and other countries and that after the completion of three berths at the port, PM Shaukat Aziz and his Chinese counterpart, Van Jiabao, would inaugurate them in March 2005. “I have taken up the matter with Jam Mohammad Yousaf, the Balochistan chief minister, and the Balochistan National Party president, in which they say they are not opposing the project, but have some reservations about it,” he said. “We will give all necessary details to them as we believe that the inclusion of the local populace in such a mega development is a must and good for the country.” Ruling out the chances of the Gwadar Development Authority’s headquarters in Karachi, he said its head office would be in Gwadar. online

Home | National