Gwadar has made huge progress when it comes to port operation and port economy. "According to our plan Gwadar would become the logistic hub in this region within 5 years!" said Zhang Baozhong, Chairman of China Overseas Port Holding Company (COPHC), confidently.

Talking about Gwadar Free Zone, the first modern industrial park in Pakistan, Dadaullah Yousuf, Manager of Gwadar Free Zone, said that up to now 46 enterprises have been registered for investment in Free Zone, mainly covering logistic, warehousing, Halal food processing, agriculture, textile, etc.

Right now, Gwadar Free Zone Phase-1 had been successfully completed, while work on the much larger Phase–2 covering an area of 2,221 acres had been started. “More and more investors are showing keen interest in investing in here,” Zhang Baozhong added.

The development of economy relies a lot on people, and it also empowers people to lead a better life. Education, first of all, is the foundation.

China-Pakistan Gwadar Faqeer Middle School, donated by China Foundation for Peace and Development (CFPD), has been in operation for 5 years with the sponsorship of COPHC. Now this school is one of the best schools in Gwadar. More than 700 boys and girls are attending school to receive education.

“Actually almost 90% of our local staff are only capable of, maybe, the watching job when they first came here,” noted Zing, Office Manager of China Business Centre (CBC) in Gwadar, adding that there are not too many schools nor too many technical agencies in Gwadar.

As a big achievement, the construction of China Aid Technical & Vocational Institute of Gwadar Port Project was completed on October 1, 2021. “We teach them from zero. After our training, they can do the technical work and the computer work,” Zing added.

Zaitoon Abdullah, Assistant Manager of Gwadar Garments Factory, told the reporter that the factory, which proposed and established by the Chinese, provide more and more opportunities to Gwadar’s less-educated, unemployed, local females so that they become employed and breadwinners, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

China-Pakistan Friendship Hospital, the under-construction hospital, is crucial for the provision of advanced medical services for the locals.

The climate of Gwadar, elevated at 0-300 meters above sea level, is drying arid hot. Stepping on Gwadar for the first time, “I thought I was on the Mars,” Zhang Baozhong said.

According to Nie Yuewen, a landscape engineer from Yulin Holdings, now they have built the Henan Agricultural Industrial Park in Gwadar and they are currently breeding seedlings. “Human beings are part of natural ecosystems and depend on them for their survival. We would like to build a green and lively Gwadar,” he told CEN.

“I joined Gwadar Port Authority back in March 2019. Things are improving; things are getting better; the city’s emerging,” noted Naseer Khan Kashani.