Gwadar Port’s Strategic Location on The Arabian Sea
Strategically located at the mouth of the Persian Gulf, the newly developed Gwadar port has the potential to make a major contribution towards promotion of global trade and commerce.
Gwadar is ideally situated along the Makran Coast of Pakistani Baluchistan to provide trade outlet to landlocked regions of Central Asia and to facilitate export of copper and other minerals from the mines in Baluchistan.
The second phase of construction is presently in progress. In this phase nine additional berths are to be provided under a major expansion program. Provisions include a Bulk Cargo Terminal to handle 100,000 DWT ships, four Container terminals, one Grain terminal and oil terminals to handle 200,000 DWT ships. The total expenditure during the second phase of construction is estimated at US$ 932 Million.
In the second phase of construction, suitable provisions would also be made for facilities required for export of copper-gold concentrate from the Reko Diq Mines in Chagai District of Baluchistan. The exploratory work at Reko Diq is now complete and equipment for mining and processing of copper ores are expected to commence shortly. About 600,000 tons of copper concentrate would be transported in the form of slurry from Reko Diq to Gwadar Port. Facilities would be installed at Gwadar for dewatering the copper concentrate, storage, and loading the concentrate on to the ships.
For the optimum utilization of facilities at Gwadar Port an extensive expansion of the road and rail networks linking Gwadar with the ultimate destinations inland has been planned. Gwadar-Quetta Highway is proposed to facilitate transportation of goods via Chaman and Afghanistan to the Central Asian Republics. Gwadar is also proposed to be linked to Peshawar through the Indus Highway and the connection between the Indus Highway and the Karakoram Highway is to be strengthened to facilitate transportation of goods to various parts of China through the western Chinese province of Xinjiang. Similarly additions are to be made in the rail networks. It is expected that the countries wishing to utilize the Gwadar Port facilities would carry out corresponding additions to their existing communication networks.
At the time of formulation of the plan for construction of Gwadar Port it was visualized that sufficient progress would be made in expansion of road and rail networks during a period of four years after the commissioning of Gwadar Port, to enable Gwadar Port to operate economically. This has not happened.
The construction schedule for road and rail links with Central Asia and other regions and the corresponding establishment of suitable trade links with the beneficiaries are dependent on political stability being achieved in Afghanistan and other troubled regions in Asia. Periodic reviews are expected to revise the targets and schedules. Such reviews and changes are, however, nothing very unusual in developing countries.
The face of Gwadar has changed since the construction of the port commenced. Gwadar, a small town with a population of 50,000, now has a modern airport and a five-star hotel; high rise residential and commercial buildings are coming up and housing colonies are being developed through private entrepreneurs. Also, Baluchistan Development Authority is in the process of developing a 100-kilometer long sea front on either side of Gwadar Port, from Pasni in the west to Kalmat in the east.
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