ISLAMABAD: The government on Thursday decided to set up two new shipyards at Gwadar and Port Qasim with investments from Japanese and Korean firms on build, operate and transfer (BOT) basis.
A decision to this effect was taken at a meeting presided over by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar who asked the ministry of defence production to move a formal summary to the prime minister for approval and the ministry of finance would strongly support the proposal.
A senior government official said the finance minister was stunned to know that the proposal for new shipyards with zero investment from the government was floated by a number of Japanese and Korean firms and a formal summary was submitted to the government in 2008 but did not move an inch since then.
He said the case was originally submitted to the government in 2008 following a group of renowned shipyard operators in Japan and Korea conducted a feasibility study and offered to finance the shipyards.
Under the proposal, the consortium had asked the government to be equity partner in the shipyards by providing shores, land and infrastructure and the rest would be taken care of by the investors.
The meeting decided to present a case for formal approval by the prime minister within a few days and since there was no financing required on part of the government, the ministry of finance would fully support it because it would enhance economic growth, create job opportunities and help the two ports to expand exponentially in commercial terms.
It was decided to start first with the Gwadar port where deep seashores were available and it would not only support development of Gwadar Port commercially in terms of increased traffic arising out of its proximity with Gulf ports and the ability to provide repair and maintenance support to international ships travelling in the area.
This would be followed up with another shipyard at Port Qasim. Currently, Pakistan has only one shipyard at Karachi port but that too is sometimes unable to provide services to shipping industry because of congestion and comparatively away from international shipping routes.
Vice Admiral (Retd) Iftikhar Ahmad Rao, who is chairman of Ship Building Association, gave a detailed presentation on global shipyard industry and historical perspective of the importance of seas for mankind and for the nations who became great powers.
