ISLAMABAD: Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Information and Broadcasting, Lieutenant General (retired) Asim Saleem Bajwa has said that the first bulk cargo ship reached the port city of Gwadar on Saturday.
According to the China Pakistan Economic Corridor project chairman, the first bulk cargo ship called MV Manet is carrying wheat and urea as a part of the Afghan Transit trade reached the port.
On a social media website Twitter, Asim Saleem Bajwa said, “A dream come true for the local economy as it will stimulate a host of business activity.”
First bulk-cargo ship “MV Manet” carrying wheat n urea of Afghan Transit trade reached Gwadar this week-a dream come true for local economy as it will stimulate host of business activity… #cpec #CPECMakingProgress pic.twitter.com/Imi9T4fbt2
— Asim Saleem Bajwa (@AsimSBajwa) May 30, 2020
The Afghan Transit trade saw occasional hiccups in the form of closure of the border crossing for sometime Due to the COVID-19 epidemic. In January 2020, the Gwadar port initiated handling transit cargo destined for Afghanistan.
Afghanistan has relied on Pakistani land routes and the two ports of Karachi and Port Qasim for international trade after bilateral conformity, known as the Afghan Transit Trade Agreement, was signed with Islamabad.
China Pakistan Economic Corridor is a collection of projects currently under construction at a cost of more than $50 billion. The major portion will be spent on enhancing the energy capacity of the country and almost $12 billion on infrastructure-related projects.
Earlier, Prime Minister Imran Khan had said that development projects under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) must be concluded on a fast-track basis and aimed at providing final form to the consultation process on the future plans.
Praising the time-tested friendship with the northern neighbor, the prime minister said that during the difficult times, China had always helped Pakistan, and CPEC was a symbol of the multi-dimensional partnership between the two sides.
He also noted that Chinese experiments in the social sector need to be fully addressed, particularly for alleviating poverty and growing agriculture.
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