Ahmed Khan Malik

Small dams have been constructed in Gwadar to overcome the water shortage as water scarcity has long been making people’s lives hard in the port city. “The city has been connected to these small dams and now the water availability is not an issue in the area,” says Taj Durrani, Director of Investment and Economic Wing, Balochistan. He told WealthPK that educational institutions had been established in the port city and that work was underway to build more schools and colleges. “The health sector is also being focused. Old city areas are also being rehabilitated to give the city a modern look.”  He said these measures were being taken under the directives of the prime minister to turn the Gwadar port city into an economic hub of the country.

Durrani said such initiatives were aimed at ameliorating the lot of local people and ending their economic deprivations. 

“Development of infrastructure in Gwadar is the main focus,” he said, adding the provision of basic amenities to the local people as the top priority.  He said the development of economic zones in the area would also uplift the socioeconomic lot of people.  It is worth mentioning that the federal government has decided to divert 50% of the imports in the public sector to Gwadar Port to make it more vibrant.  Saeed Baloch, a leader of the Balochistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said that the government’s initiatives to boost the economic activities would not only make the Gwadar residents financially empowered, but would also benefit the whole of Balochistan, which is in dire need of a big economic boost.

He said that the people of the province lagged behind in the economic field compared to the other provinces of the country, and the development of the Gwadar port offered immense opportunities to the people of the province. Gwadar Port is emerging as the third port of Pakistan after Karachi and Port Qasim. Gwadar Port is located at the mouth of the Persian Gulf and outside the Straits of Hormuz. It is near the key shipping routes used by the mainline vessels in the region with connections to Africa, Asia and Europe, and enjoys high commercial and strategic significance.

Credit: INP-WealthPk