BEIJING: Chinese media has said that Gwadar is emerging on world’s map as another Dubai, which will change the economic scenario of not only Pakistan but whole of the region.
There will be a ceremony next month marking the completion and commencement of major infrastructure projects in Gwadar that also greatly boost the city’s function as an economic engine for the country.
A water dam, a hospital and a school will be put into use in August, while the construction of the Gwadar International Airport, a seaside expressway, a training centre and a pipeline will begin in the meantime.
Most of the projects are financed by China and falls under CPEC, Xinhua reports quoting Gwadar Port Authority Chairman Dostain Jamaldini.
COPHC, a Chinese company managing the Gwadar port, also said it will start developing the Gwadar Free Trade Zone (FTZ) this month with an initial investment of $ 150 million. “First phase projects in the FTZ include a multi-function business centre, a exhibition hall for Chinese goods and cold storage,” COPHC Pakistan chief Wu Chunguo said.
The FTZ and the Gwadar Special Economic Zone are two areas that the Pakistani government has granted preferable policies to attract investments, with tax exemptions for companies inside the two zones for 23 years and 10 years respectively.
A town with a population of less than 100,000, Gwadar was once a territory of Oman before being purchased by Pakistan in 1958. It is gifted with a natural deep-water harbor that falls close to main shipping lanes and an anchor-shaped peninsula that acts as a breakwater shielding the harbor from the waves of the Arabian Sea.
