DPW eyes Gwadar

I wrote about the port of Gwadar here. This port is in Balochistan (SW Pakistan), and is in a strategic location, right where the Gulf of Oman opens up into the Arabian Sea. Pakistan hopes to develop this port into very profitable enterprise. Oil coming out of the Persian Gulf could be shipped here, and then transported overland to places like China. Also, oil and gas coming out of Central Asia could be brought here and exported.

China is putting hundreds of millions of dollars into Gwadar, part of China's effort to develop a string of ports around SE Asia.

Dubai Ports World, now famous in this country as part of the political flap that arose when DPW was to be given management control of six ports in the US, is competing to manage the Gwadar port.

Chairman of Dubai Ports World, Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, who met President Pervez Musharraf on Thursday, expressed a strong hope for management of facilities at the strategic Gwadar deep sea port and development of infrastructure in the southern port city and elsewhere in the country. "Gwadar deep sea port is a viable project as it has a major role in serving as a corridor for energy, cargo and services between Central Asia, the Gulf and other surrounding regions," he told reporters.

Sulayem described the President's response to DP World's interest as very encouraging and hoped for conclusion of a deal in this respect "very soon."

"Gwadar has all the natural advantages that you will not have anywhere else," he stated.

During the meeting, Musharraf informed the UAE business leader that the government would facilitate foreign investment in the country and assured that their business would enjoy legal protection. "An enabling environment has been put in place to attract both foreign and local investment, which will enjoy an equal playing field," he said.

The Pakistani leader vowed to make Pakistan a hub of regional trade and added that the country is set to serve as a commerce and energy corridor between the Middle East, Central Asia, South Asia and the fast-growing Western parts of China.

President Musharraf spoke of the pivotal location of Gwadar as a gateway among these regions and said Pakistan is resolved to run the deep sea port on modern lines.

The Chairman of DP World saw tremendous economic opportunities in Pakistan at the back of a vibrant growth in industrial and other sectors. "The international investors have great confidence in Pakistan's economic prospects and investment environment and we want to participate in the economic growth of Pakistan," he said.