Gwadar: Progress News & Updates

[Sultan]

When does construction begin on this project ?

[zees]

The fast developing port city of Gawadar will have its first state of the art desalination plant with capacity of purifying 0.2 million gallons per day (MGD) water in next six months.

Associated Builders, a part of Hashoo Group conglomerate on Wednesday inked an agreement with Pure Water Technologies for installing this Rs100 million project.

Executive Director Associated Builder, Shah Mohammad Misbah and Director Technical Pure Water, Arshad Rashid, formally signed the agreement under aegis of Governor Baluchistan Owais Ahmed Ghani.

The Governor said that the project was a milestone considering non-availability of drinking water at the port. The plant is specifically aimed at providing drinking water to future residents of Golden Palm Housing Scheme a project of Associated Builders spreading over 1,000 acres.

Owais Ahmed Ghani lauded the efforts of private sector in promoting the policy of government to put the private builders in front line of development.

Shah Mohammad Misbah said that Pure Water the sole representative of Concorde Corodex Group of UAE was installing the project.

[zees]

The government of Pakistan has decided to offer land and infrastructure to world class petroleum companies for setting up refineries in Gwadar to minimise country's oil import bill and Pakistan is also establishing oil refineries at Gwadar to refine oil of Gulf countries for international market.

[pakboy]

This is a huge enourmus industrial zone planned in gwadar on the east bay, it is being planned as the most modern industrial zones. It has big wide roads running thourght it of 220 ft - 150 ft. This is the zone which can totaly turn around gwadar to make it a economical and business hub, it is a very important zone and will open up business's in the city.


RENDERINGS:

[Hindustani]

Very nice.

[hassandada]

sweet

[Intoxication]

Looks wonderful

[vc15nets]

[UnitedPakistan]

Waiting for the Boom
Touted as a major port for Pakistan, Gwadar is a small fishing village with grand hopes

Images of Gwadar before Port Construction


FISH OF THE DAY: Children by Gwadar's west bay watch a boat bring in the daily catch


TOMORROW'S HOME: The still desolate project office for the Golden Palms luxury housing development


CONCESSIONS: A sweet vendor shop in Gwadar


GUNS OF HISTORY: The remains of a Portuguese gun tower face the east bay


HOLY GROUND: A Gwadar mosque


TOMORROW TODAY: An advertisement for the Creek City development project presents the future of Gwadar


BARBER OF GWADAR: Scene from a haircut in the village


FISHING THE FUTURE: A man in Gwadar works on his fishing boat, with the cliffs of the Hammerhead in the distance


DREAMS MEET REALITY: An advertisement for the Golden Palms development project, with the dry scrub land it will hopefully transform in the background


ENGINES OF PROGRESS: A bulldozer waits to work at a construction office


SEASIDE: A beachside kiosk and its vendor await the future tourist hordes

[UnitedPakistan]

There is no electricity in my house as I pack my bags. A sudden windstorm has damaged a power transformer on my street in Lahore, so I am forced to hunt through my sock drawer in flickering candlelight. But I am excited, because I am embarking on a search for paradise, in a place called Gwadar.

Pakistan today is a country of enormous potential and enormous uncertainty. There is much to be hopeful about. Peace with India is being discussed. Property prices and the stock market are booming. On the television are a dozen recently launched local channels, ranging from news to music to fashion. But at the same time, Pakistan remains desperately poor. School enrollment is among the lowest in Asia. Militant religious groups remain a grave threat. And the fate of the country is tied closely to that of one man, President Pervez Musharraf, a regular target for assassins.

Like many Pakistanis caught between optimism and nervousness, I am constantly seeking sources of encouragement, signs that life here will continue to change for the better. Symbols are important to me, and my mood tends to brighten after each victory of the national cricket team, each announcement of improving economic data.

So I am thrilled to be going to Gwadar, a small fishing village on the Arabian Sea in Pakistan's largest but most sparsely populated province, Baluchistan. Gwadar is said to be Pakistan's great boomtown, a place of incredible beauty and unparalleled opportunity. Chinese engineers are building a $250 million deepwater port there with the potential to link all of Afghanistan and Central Asia to the sea. Newspapers are filled with articles predicting that Gwadar will become the "Dubai of Pakistan" and with advertisements trumpeting pictures of under-construction luxury hotels and residential communities.

As I leave my house, I step into a cool breeze, the pleasant aftermath of the day's storm. My flight to Karachi, where I will spend the night before connecting to Gwadar, is smooth and uneventful. But a friend who has come to pick me up from the airport tells me that Karachi is tense. A few hours earlier, terrorists attacked a Shia mosque in the city, killing 15 worshippers.

It is not an auspicious beginning to my search for paradise.

large group of foreign-looking people traveling in Pakistan is an uncommon sight, so I am not surprised that many of my fellow countrymen are staring at the Chinese engineers sitting beside me the following morning in the departure lounge of Karachi airport. But the smiles that the Chinese are receiving, the handshakes and words of support from complete strangers, do surprise me.

As I listen to the brief conversations taking place in broken English between Pakistanis and Chinese, I begin to understand. A car bomb has killed three Chinese engineers in Gwadar. The Pakistanis in the lounge are expressing their gratitude for the work the Chinese are doing and for their decision to persevere despite the attack. "Pakistan, China, good friends," a middle-aged Chinese man says to an elderly Pakistani, who looks pleased to hear it. I am pleased, too. Pakistan's friends are few and far between these days. Much of the world seems to look on our country with a mixture of suspicion and fear. But these Chinese engineers appear calm, professional and not in the least resentful or hostile.



Gwadar's runway is too short to accommodate a modern Boeing or Airbus, so we board an ancient, propeller-powered Fokker. We take off with a roar. In just a few minutes, the urban sprawl of Karachi has given way to the arid and rugged Baluchistan coast, a muscular, bony land edged by the cool blue of the sea. I find myself trying to visualize Gwadar, playing with images of other seaside paradises I have visited. Bali comes to mind, and Portofino, but I dismiss the first as too green and the second as too wealthy. Perhaps Gwadar will be like Mykonos, with its whitewashed buildings and dry coastline.

"Are you going to buy property?" asks the man in the seat beside me as he opens a metal briefcase and takes out brochures covered with hand-written notes.

"No, I'm looking for paradise," I say, adding, "for an article I'm writing. Is Gwadar as lovely as people say?"

"The port is almost done. And soon they will complete the coastal highway to Karachi. Now is the time to buy."

"Yes, but what does it look like?"

He is distracted by a flight attendant, who has brought us sandwiches. Then he begins entering figures into a calculator. I decide not to ask him again.

There are small airports around the world that have the immediate effect of making the tourist relax, secure in the knowledge that he or she has indeed arrived in paradise. Gwadar's airport is not one of them. Men in uniform with automatic weapons guard the perimeter and far outnumber those civilians who have come to receive passengers. Also, there are no taxis. Instead, there are for-hire Toyota 4x4 pickup trucks that look like the vehicles Taliban fighters drove in TV footage of the 2001 Afghanistan campaign.

I nod to the driver of one of these, negotiate a rate and hop in. I ask him to show me sights he thinks are particularly beautiful.

"Do you want to buy land?" he asks me.

"No. I'm a writer. I want to see places you think are unusual. I want to know their stories, the stories of your area."

"I will take you to where land is a million rupees an acre."

"I'm not here to buy land."

My driver, Faisal, insists again, and eventually I give in. We race out into the desert on a remarkably smooth road. Suddenly, he stops. "Here," he says.

I look around. Empty desert stretches out in every direction. In the distance, sharp hills mark the horizon. "What is this?" I ask, puzzled.

"Good land."

I see sand, stones and some scraggly bushes.

Faisal tells me that there will soon be houses, and he points to a network of pylons and wires snaking off to our left to show me that there is already electricity. When I ask if he really thinks the city will reach this far inland, he says Gwadar will be huge one day and that this will be near the center.

Faisal takes me to Golden Palms, a luxury development I have seen gleaming from numerous advertisements in Lahore. When we arrive, I see a sign with the words "Golden Palms—Bringing Dreams to Life," a single-room shack announcing itself as the site office and what appears to be empty desert except for rows of white stakes in the ground.

For the first time, I begin to wonder if Gwadar could be just a mirage, a speculative boom built on flimsy fundamentals. But I don't want to believe that. I've come here looking for hope. So I tell myself that I'm no urban planner or civil engineer. All this really could be a paradise waiting to be born.

Much to my relief, the town of Gwadar is indeed spectacular in its setting. Its low, rough buildings fill a slender isthmus stretching out into the sea and culminating in a massive, cliff-ringed hammerhead of rock. The port nestles beside these cliffs, wonderfully protected from the open water, and on either side, gentle bays curve away in long stretches of beach that lead eventually to steep, sharp-edged mountains.

But physical beauty aside, Gwadar is essentially a poor fishing village, a rough-and-ready little settlement with a very visible paramilitary presence. Women are kept well covered and do not often stray into public areas frequented by men. There is little evidence that much work on the luxury hotels I've read about has even begun.

As I walk along the beach one afternoon, watching the day's catch being off-loaded from small wooden boats onto carts pulled by donkeys knee-deep in the surf, a local boy named Abdul strikes up a conversation with me, asking if I have come to buy land. I shake my head and ask him what he thinks of the new hotels that will be built here.

"We are excited," he says. "We want people to come. I am a good swimmer. I can teach them to swim. I will tell them not to be scared of the sea snakes."

"Are they poisonous?"

"One bite and a grown man is dead."

There is excitement in Abdul's eyes as he talks about the future. But try as I might, I just don't see it. I cannot imagine a tourist paradise developing here, in a place where women are not allowed to do their shopping outside of the women's section of the market, let alone put on swimming suits and venture out into the sea, and where lethal sea snakes lurk beneath the waves.

Yet, there is undeniable beauty here. Offshore, protected from the open sea by the cliff-lined bay, Gwadar's fishing fleet bobs on the sparkling water. Beyond the horizon, not far away, are Oman, Iran and the oil wealth of the Persian Gulf. Perhaps I am missing something. Perhaps there really is reason to be hopeful. After all, even in the Garden of Eden, paradise was home to a serpent.

I escape the afternoon heat by taking a nap in my modest but clean motel, apparently the nicest place to stay in the bazaar. When I wake, I go for an evening stroll. Despite my earlier disappointment with the lack of visible activity at the large new property developments, Gwadar is certainly changing. Small signs of growth abound, with many houses and shops in the process of adding second and even third floors.

On closer inspection, Gwadar has much one would not expect to find in a poor fishing village. There is a place called the Global Internet Cafe, for example, and a video-game arcade packed with young kids in colorful T shirts. There are restaurants with televisions connected to satellite dishes, numerous public call offices offering international dialing and fax services, and even more numerous establishments advertising themselves as property dealers. There is also an amazing absence of seafood.

In the main square, I take a seat on a wooden bench under the night sky near a sign offering dishes of chicken and lamb. The owner of the restaurant comes to me, and after inquiring politely if I want to buy land, asks me for my order.

"Why don't any of the restaurants here serve seafood?" I ask him.

He laughs. "We can if you wish. But it is best to tell us the night before, so we can buy it fresh when it comes in. You see, we used to eat mostly fish. But now our fish commands such a high price that it is auctioned at the harbor and sent off for export. With the price we get, we can buy enough chicken for two men with a fish that would feed only one."

He seems pleased by this. My fellow diners are devouring chicken with such enthusiasm that I suspect they do not mind the change in their diet. Trade has brought them increased prosperity and access to goods they could not previously afford. That may not be the paradise I had in mind, the sanitized and glamorous paradise of a world-class tourist resort. But it is certainly a kind of paradise nonetheless, something for which most of Asia's billions pray every day.

On the morning of my flight back to Karachi, I am informed by Pakistan International Airlines that although my ticket says I have a confirmed seat, I do not in fact have one. I go to a public call office and phone Lahore and Karachi, trying to find someone who can sort out this problem. But it is a weekend, and I have limited success until a local man sipping a cup of tea beside me intervenes on my behalf. His name is Babu, and in addition to being a property dealer, he is also a telephone repairman. "Everyone knows me," he says. "And they all owe me a favor."

He takes my ticket and drives off on his motorcycle. Fifteen minutes later he is back, and my problem has been solved. I thank him, and we get to talking. I ask him what he thinks of the plans for Gwadar's future. "We are very happy," he tells me. "Here there has been no development for so long. We don't even have a hospital. Pakistan had forgotten about us. But now things are changing."

I remember walking along the beach a few days earlier and seeing the shattered glass that marked the site of the recent car bombing. I ask Babu why, if the people of Gwadar are so happy about the project, someone targeted the Chinese. "It was not one of us," he says. "But outsiders sometimes come. Strange people from Afghanistan and Peshawar and Islamabad. They do not come for business. We do not know why they are here. But I know that we did not do this thing to the Chinese."

He invites me to his home for lunch, and I eat with the men of his family. I ask them about reports I have read that tribal leaders in Baluchistan are opposed to the development of Gwadar, because they fear it will only benefit non-Baluch outsiders. They admit that this is true for some of the inland Baluch tribes, but not for the people of Gwadar itself. That said, they also tell me that they are disappointed that locals have so far been given few jobs. "We want other Pakistanis to come here and invest," Babu says. "But we should not be excluded. It will not be fair to us if outsiders buy all our land and leave us without work."

I think about this on the flight back to Karachi as my Fokker bucks and rears through a turbulent sky. I hope that there is indeed a plan to make sure the locals continue to benefit and that Gwadar does not become just a speculative game for the rest of Pakistan. Because although I did not on this trip find the paradise I was looking for, I did find what could be a source of hope for thousands of poor people in Baluchistan if Gwadar is managed correctly.

My search for paradise in Gwadar only reinforced my feeling that Pakistan is a land of both potential and uncertainty. This is not surprising, I tell myself as my Fokker banks sharply and comes in to land. After all, in the Sufi tradition, a successful quest for paradise always takes the searcher back to himself.

Hey ..here are more pictures of Gwadar.

[UnitedPakistan]

Gwadar in the future

[UnitedPakistan]

New world-class airport announced: Shaukat visits Gwadar

GWADAR (September 18 2005): The government has decided to construct a new international airport at Gwadar with state-of-the-art facility having world-class standard. This was announced by Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz who was speaking at the foundation stone laying ceremony of Gwadar Industrial Estate on Saturday.

He said that till the completion of the new international airport the existing airport is being upgraded, and necessary facilities were being provided so that there could be frequent communication between Karachi and Gwadar. Shaukat Aziz said that the Gwadar will not only be an industrial hub, but also attract tourist since it has got great potential for tourism.

He said that this is a historic day and pointed out that six years ago when President General Pervez Musharraf took over power he saw a dream of making a world class port in Gwadar and added that today we are seeing this dream becoming a reality.

He said that the President took up the matter of building of Gwadar port with Prime Minister of China who readily agreed to the proposal, so this port is a gift of China. The Prime Minister said that the seaports change the destiny of regions and countries.

He pointed out that six years ago, the President promised roads for Gwadar and that promise has been fulfilled with the construction of Coastal Highway which goes up to north and shall be a crucial link for Afghanistan and Central Asia.

Shaukat Aziz said, "We have to open our minds and allow foreign investors to come up with their investment which will usher in an era of prosperity and help create employment opportunities."

The Prime Minister said that in case the local skilled labour was not available we should welcome with open heart skilled people from other regions for development, progress and prosperity of Gwadar, which is not only in the interest of the-people of Gwadar and Balochistan, but also in the interest of Pakistan.

Shaukat Aziz announced that the federal government will establish Export Processing Zone in Gwadar on fast-track basis and will extend Coastal Highway up to Iran to promote trade and commerce with it.

In this connection, the Prime Minister said that import of gas from Iran will transform Balochistan and a decision on gas pipeline project with Iran after consideration of all aspects will be made in the national interest.

He said that local bodies' elections have demonstrated that people have rejected anti-development and negative forces.

Shaukat Aziz announced Rs 10 million for water supply to Gwadar and in response to demand of Balochistan chief minister Jam Mohammed Yousuf for desalination plant, he said that the government will bear half of the cost of desalination plant which will be grant of federal government.

Earlier, in his welcome address Jam Mohammed Yousuf said that Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz's contribution towards development of Gwadar and construction of port here are laudable and commendable.

He said that it seemed like a dream but Shaukat Aziz has made it a reality.

On the occasion, Balochistan governor Owais Ghani, federal ministers Zobaida Jalal and Naseer Mengal were also present.

Meanwhile, groundbreaking ceremony of Gwadar Port Civic Centre was also held on Saturday.

In his speech at the ceremony the Prime Minister said that the federal government was spending a record Rs 134 billion on mega projects for development in Balochistan.

"This has never happened in the history of Balochistan that such mega projects were ever carried out at one time," Shaukat Aziz noted, amid applause.

Balochistan Governor Owais Ahmed Ghani, Chief Minister Jam Mohammad Yousuf, Minister for Port and Shipping Babar Khan Ghauri, Minister for Social Welfare and Special Education Zobaida Jalal and Minister for Petroleum Naseer Mengal were also present on the occasion.

He said that this year Rs 21 billion had been allocated under annual development programme for Balochistan, which was about 10.5 percent of total outlay. "This is more than the share of Balochistan, in terms of population ratio to other provinces," he added.

Shaukat Aziz directed the Gwadar Port Authority (GPA) to complete construction of Civic Centre within 18 months and undertake construction work on its own and not on built, operate and transfer (BOT) basis.

He said that minister of ports and shipping Babar Khan Ghauri was a man of action and he would ensure that work is completed in the stipulated time.

He said that this is a costly project and will be a model Civic Centre in the country, having offices, bank branches, utility store and residential blocks.

He announced the establishment of USC store in Gwadar, saying that it would be operational before the start of Ramazan.

He said that 500 out of 1000 houses would be given to fishermen at the housing scheme in Sur Bandar area.

Shaukat said he wants to take Pakistan on the road of development and prosperity and added that never in the history of Pakistan such development schemes were carried out by any government.

He said that people have been witnessing progress on these projects and therefore they would reject pessimistic elements.

The Prime Minister said that Gwadar Port would generate economic activity in the area and road network would connect it with Afghanistan, Iran and Central Asia as the most important route in the region for transportation.

The Prime Minister said that the federal government would spend all money on development projects as the government has decided to federalise the schemes for rapid progress on these projects.

He said the second phase of Gwadar Port would start after completion of Phase-I. The GPA has been asked to make this port operational and market its facilities.

Shaukat advised the people of Balochistan to welcome investment in Gwadar. "The world has changed and this is the era of globalisation and you must welcome investors in Gwadar," he added.

The Prime Minister said that investment would open avenues for further development and generate job opportunities in Gwadar.

He said the government was working on a project to attract tourists to Gwadar. He said: "Hotels are coming up very fast, and I am happy to see new hotels in Gwadar, especially Pearl Continental Hotel."

He said that first flight of new ATR aircraft of PIA, replacing Fokkers, would land at Gwadar airport. "I have asked PIA to use this new aircraft on Karachi-Gwadar route," he added amid applause.

Addressing Senator Ismail Buledi, the Prime Minister in a lighter mood said that opposition "also supports our good work". He said the opposition should make positive criticism and also suggest remedies to help the government in the redressal of the problems.

He said that government wanted to set up a mega refinery at Gwadar to refine crude and supply in the region. [COLOR=blue]It would be a mega project and would take time. But the thinking on this project should start now, he noted.

He said that Balochistan government should further improve its governance and bring in more transparency in the working. The Prime minister noted that Balochistan has vast potential for development in agriculture, energy, livestock, mining, fisheries sectors and the government would explore all potential. "These sectors will generate employment opportunities."

Copyright Associated Press of Pakistan, 2005

[UnitedPakistan]

Gwadar Port UnderConstruction - Pakistan's New Economic Frontier

Picture taken from far far away !



Along the Mekran Coast

Driving from Karachi to Gwadar along the Mekran coast on the MCH (Mekran Coastal Highway) - South Western Pakistan.

Pictures taken by Montesir Shirazi.

































A natural Sphynx - created by errosion











Princess of Hope



Sunset in Gwadar







Diverse Pakistani landscape

[UnitedPakistan]

Gwadar will become region’s economic hub: official

ISLAMABAD: Gwadar will be an economic hub and trade centre in the region in the days ahead.

Speaking in a television programme on Saturday, Additional Chief Secretary Balochistan Qayyum Nazir Changezi said Gwadar would be a centre not only for Gwadar itself, but also for the province and the country. It would also be a centre for Afghanistan and the Central Asian States as well. He pointed out that Gwadar is naturally located at a site that suits to all of these areas.

He said the first phase of the Gwadar project, comprising three berths, had been completed with a cost of Rs 16 billion. Further digging is going on to deepen these berths further for the anchoring of big ships. Replying to a question, he said more berths would be constructed in the second phase and Gwadar would become a very big port of this area after they are completed, as they were being prepared in accordance with the international standards and with the latest facilities. He said five big ships would anchor in the port at a time after the completion of the second phase.

"Gwadar port will prove to be a multi-dimensional centre and will play a pivotal role in the development of the region," he said replying to a query.

He told the interviewer that communication network to link Gwadar with other provinces of the country, Afghanistan, Iran and other Central Asian states was being improved and strengthened.

Special attention was also being given for providing railway link to Gwadar, he said adding that new roads were being constructed with the expansion of the existing road network for the area.

[UnitedPakistan]

Gwadar port to play vital role in national development

Shahid Karimullah

KARACHI: Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Shahid Karimullah Monday said with the functioning of Gwadar port Makran belt will become hub of economic activities and play vital role for the development of country.

There has been a lot of improvement on the Makran belt, he said while addressing the naval officers and sailors during his visit to Pakistan Navy units in the coastal areas as part of his farewell programme.

'Pakistan Navy's responsibilities have also increased simultaneously and I have full faith that in future as well Pak Navy with discharge its duties with full devotion and honesty," he added.

Shahid Karimullah acknowledged the efforts and dedication of naval personnel with which they are performing the sacred task of defending maritime frontiers of the country.

By carrying out relief operations during natural calamities and setting up free medical camps, Pakistan Navy has earned lot of respect in the eyes of local populace, he said.

"We will continue to do whatever we can in our capacity for the betterment of locals and recent establishment of school at Ormara is also one such effort," he said.

Admiral Shahid Karimullah was given a traditional naval send off from Jinnah Naval Base Ormara.

[UnitedPakistan]

Romania interested in refineries

KARACHI: Some private Romanian companies have shown keen interest in setting up refineries in Gwadar besides looking for other opportunities to initiate joint ventures.

This was stated by Ionel Mantog, leader of a 14-member Romanian state delegation here on Saturday.

According to a spokesman for the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), the Romanian delegate, however, said they could not sign any agreement in that regard as his country was driven by the private sector. His delegation also included representatives of various industries.

A representative from the refinery sector showed interest and was studying options after visiting Balochistan a day earlier.

Mantog said the objective of the delegation was to attract foreign investment as his country offered golden opportunities to foreign investors.

Earlier, addressing the members of the KCCI, he said there was a special government body which provided assistance to foreign investors and guided them about formalities and legal requirements besides apprising them of available opportunities.

He said the delegation included representatives from coal, oil and gas, cement, textile and light engineering sectors, who were interested to see the opportunities and possibilities of joint ventures as well as trade relations. He said Romania produced a variety of goods which Pakistan imported from other countries and added "bilateral trade between Pakistan and Romania can increase manifold".

He said "Romania is a member of the European Union and Pakistani investors by putting up a factory in Romania can export to the European Union."

He said his country had 100 per cent equity ratio and investors could remit the capital as per profit.

Earlier, KCCI President Khalid Firoz said Pakistan and Romania had very close and cordial relations and in recent years, institutional framework had been strengthened and exchange of trade delegations and individual businessmen had increased. He said the Romanian side invited Pakistani companies to invest in Romania particularly in textile, leather, food processing and any other sector of interest.

[UnitedPakistan]

Recent Projects

Finance Trade and Business Avenue Creek City
New World City Golden Palms
Marjan Beach Resort Muscat Center
GDA Housing Scheme No. 5 Subzimandi
Makkah City Gwadar Royal Garden
Green Palms Platinum City
Globiz Avenue (Old West Bay) Globiz Avenue Phase-II
Gwadar Creek Avenue White Pealr City
Jinnah City Zer Industrial
Hermain City GDA Industrial Scheme No. 3 (PVT)
Model Town Gwadar Madina City
Breeze Way Industrial and Cargo Village
Kohinoor Savannah [New]
For further details Like
(Type of Scheme, Total Area, Appl. Date, Owner Name, Cont. No., NOC No. & Date and Status) about above projects you can contact Gwadar News at Info@gwadarnews.com.

Water supply
Water supply is being improved, seven jetties are being constructed and local fishermen are being given motor engine run boats.

Electric Power Supply
A number of electric power generation projects are also being carried out in Gawadar and in its surroundings. The Quetta Electric Supply Company (QESCO), a subsidiary of the WAPDA, has geared up the work for building the power transmission line. It is expected to be completed. A power station of 132 KV is under construction.

Air Port
Gawadar has a small airport, which is basically meant for fokker aircraft. The need is growing for the expansion of this airport and enlargement of its runway to facilitate the landing of wide body aeroplanes. CAA has been directed to upgrade the Gawadar Airport for the landing of Airbuses by the end of 2004. Gawadar port will be open air and after its inauguration the jet planes shall be landing at the Gawadar airport. A sum of 2.3 million dollars is being utilized from Omani grant. The Pakistan government and the Civil Aviation Authority are also contributing additional Rs. 563.35 million for this purpose. The new international Air Port of Gawadar has been planned in the north east of the final master plan of Gawadar.


Dry Port
China wants to set up a dry port near the Pakistan-China border, so that western China could also benefit from the Gawadar seaport and it will create a ribbon of economic activity and hundreds of new jobs along the proposed highway linking Gawadar with the Karakoram highway in the north.


Rice Zone
Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan (REAP)-apex body of the rice exporters in the country- has decided to establish a rice zone in Gawadar to fetch the opportunities in the area after the construction of new port. The establishment of warehouses will provide extraordinary facilities to rice exporters especially for those who export rice to Iran as the Iranian border is only at a distance of three hours from Gawadar.


Saindak Copper Gold
The Saindak Copper Gold project is in progress by producing 12500 tons 'raw copper' daily. MRDL, a Chinese company, is doing the whole work. To ensure successful implementation of the mega project modern machinery, including crushers, smelters and other plants have been installed in addition to a 50 MW powerhouse. 33 km railway line from Taftan to Saindak has also been laid. The Chinese company MRDL has so far invested $25 million (Rs 1.5 billion) on the project.


Trans Afghan Gas Pipe Line
The 1400km-long Trans-Afghan Gas Pipeline (TAP) from Turkmenistan to Gawadar (Pakistan), the long dormant project that hopes to pump Turkmen natural gas to markets in South Asia, is finally poised to step off the drawing board costing $3 billion.


Makran Coastal Highway
The 715 km Makran Coastal Highway linking Gwadar with Karachi on a 675-mile stretch is going to be lifeline of the Gawadar project. It will be completed in four phases. President Musharraf has already performed the groundbreaking ceremony of second phase under which the Frontier Works Organization is constructing Gawadar Pasni patch. Completion of this highway will open up the area exposing all business opportunities in Gawadar and on Makran coast to the international investors. It is certainly going to attract new townships and settlements of international investors, tourists, and workforce coming from distant lands. The Makran coastal highway will also link Karachi with Iran and, thus, open a new and shorter trade route between the two countries. Gaining access to the more lucrative but landlocked central Asian markets via Iran and Afghanistan is also on the cards.


Linking Cars
The Asian Development Bank has also announced financing for road projects, linking Pakistans Balochistan and Frontier provinces with Afghanistan and Central Asian Republics (CARs), having a total cost of $500 million
Mirani Dam And Canals

Mirani dam construction is another major endeavor being made to develop water resources in the province. The WAPDA is working on the Mirani Dam Project. Its estimated cost is Rs 7.5 billion. More than Rs15 billion would be spent on this project for which the federal government has provided Rs2 billion in the fiscal year 2002-03. It is expected to irrigate 32,000 acres highly fertile and of Dasht Plains in the downstream while more than 20,000 acres in the upstream through recharge of hundreds of dead and old Kans (deep wells linked up from the bottom ensuring a greater flow of water for domestic use and farming).

[prsn41ife]

wow, all those skyscrapers are already planned? are they u/c?

[UnitedPakistan]

Thats a representation of what the west bay might look like...

[UnitedPakistan]

Gwadar Industrial Zone - Shankhani Dar

RENDERINGS: