BEIJING (China) April 18 (APP): With the development of Gwadar Port
under China’s “One Belt, One Road” initiative, Gwadar, the Pakistani city where the port is situated, is transforming from a small fishing village into an international harbor and attractive destination for investment.
As a flagship project in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC),
the construction of the deep-sea port is rapidly driving the economic growth of Gwadar, Vice President of Gwadar Free Zone Co Hu Yaozong in a statement published in People’s Daily on Tuesday said.
Hu noted that the landscape of the Gwadar Port is expected to “change significantly every three months” based on the current construction speed.
One of the major changes is the improvement in basic infrastructure,
according to Zhang Baozhong, the president of State-owned China Overseas Port Holding Co, the project’s contract developer.
Zhang said as of the end of last year, China Overseas Port had completed the construction of the port’s supporting facilities, enabling it to process containers and cargo.
Routine routes to China, the Middle East and Africa have also been opened.
A new international airport, an employee training center, hospitals and
coal-fired power plants are also under construction in Gwadar. Such projects would diversify the city’s industrial structure and improve local living standards.
Land prices in Gwadar Port have surged on expectations that the city will prosper, according to local real estate developers.
An increasing number of businessmen in Pakistan have compared Gwadar with China’s just-announced Xiongan New Area, and are actively looking for investment opportunities there.
“We would like to tap into China’s experience of building special economic zones, initiating a new economic development model for Pakistan,” Zhang said.
