QUETTA, Pakistan - Gwadar port on the Arabian Sea in the southwestern Pakistani province of Balochistan has been handed over to a Singaporean firm, which will run it for 40 years.

The concession agreement for handing over operating rights of the seaport to the Port of Singapore Authority was signed on Tuesday between the Gwadar Port Authority (GPA) and the concession-holder company (CHC), a subsidiary of PSA International.

Under the agreement, the GPA will receive revenues from PSA over a period of 40 years. The investment, revenues and income received from Gwadar port's entire operations have been estimated at between US$23.6 billion and $42.2 billion.

The concession holder has committed to installing two additional quayside gantry cranes for the handling of containers within nine months. The PSA will also undertake construction of 14 more berths in a 4.5-square-kilometer area beside the existing three berths. The cargo-handling capacity of Gwadar port will be expanded by up to 300 million tonnes from the current 50 million tonnes within the next two decades.

China financed 80% of the project's $248 million initial development costs. In December, a consortium led by PSA won the contract to operate the deepsea port on the Arabian Sea. Under the agreement, PSA will run the port for 40 years, during which time it will be exempted from corporate tax. Pakistan's AKD Group is part of the Singaporean consortium. PSA has envisaged investing $3 billion in the project, of which $550 million would be invested in the first five years.

PSA International is owned by the Singaporean government's investment-holding company Temasek. Strategically located Gwadar will be a significant addition to PSA's global network of deepsea ports. PSA is a global leader in the ports and terminals business, operating 20 port projects in 11 countries - Singapore, Belgium, Brunei, China, India, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Portugal, South Korea and Thailand.

The CHC will establish three separate operating companies for different business areas, which will enjoy a complete - federal, provincial and local - tax holiday for the first 20 years of the concession.

The materials and equipment that will be used in the construction and operation of the port will also be tax-free. Likewise, the bunker oil used in the port or sold to visiting ships will be free of duty. These privileges will remain throughout the concession period.

Under the agreement, the CHC will pay a fixed share of its revenues to the GPA. Pakistan will get a 9% share in income and revenue from the first day for the cargo operations and marine services. Three companies will work under the operator of Gwadar port. One company will manage the port area and cargo operation; the second will handle marine functions such as pilotage; and the third company will operate a "Free Trade Zone". Pakistan will get 15% of the revenue from the Free Trade Zone, where warehouses and other facilities will be constructed by the PSA.

The Free Trade Zone is aimed at developing facilities and businesses that are conducive to the growth of the port. The concession holder will develop at least 20% of required facilities within the zone. The remainder will be developed by either the concession holder or other investors. The exports of goods from the Free Trade Zone into Pakistan or vice versa are subject to normal import and export duties.

As well as being responsible for navigational safety and security, the GPA will develop and maintain the common port infrastructure including access channels, breakwaters and access roads.

The international management-consulting firm Arthur D Little, which has extensive global experience and expertise in port planning and negotiations with port and terminal concession holders, has acted as technical adviser to the GPA during the process.

Under the concession, two terminal areas, including a multipurpose terminal area, will be developed. The terminal areas will be expanded in an easterly direction up to a total length of 4.2km and cater for various types of cargo. The conta

QUETTA, April 12: The Balochistan government and a United Arab Emirates firm —HRC — signed an agreement on Thursday under which Gwadar Coast Centre (GCC) would be established for the development of the port city.

Director General of HRC Khalfan Saeed Al-Mazroi, Chairman Balochistan Development Authority (BDA) Farooq Ahmed and Johannes Erskine Flo of the Norwegian firm signed the agreement at a ceremony.

Balochistan Chief Secretary K. B Rind said on the occasion that under the agreement the Gwadar Coast Centre (GCC) would invest $3.2 billion in this mega project.

"This coast centre would be 5th of its kind in the world," he said adding that three coast centres were already working in Norway and one in the United States.

Giving details of the mega project, he said that it would be established at 2,000 acres of land that would generate over 10,000 job opportunities in the port city of Gwadar. The Balochistan government would have 10 per cent shares in the mega project, Rind said.

He said that the project would be completed by 2014 and that would convert Gwadar a modern port city with having all international facilities.

Khalfan Saeed Al-Mazroi of HRC while speaking on the occasion said that signing of this mega project with the Balochistan government reflected very cordial relations with Pakistan and the joint venture would further strengthen relations between both the countries.

He said that implementation on this proposed mega project would help making Gwadar a big international port city. Not only Pakistan but other countries in the region would be benefited from this project, he concluded.

APP adds: The project will ensure setting up an oil and gas service, supply, fabrication and maintenance base in Gwadar city.

The Gwadar Coast Centre (GCC) will be a one-stop-business-hub for all oil and gas services for the entire region, and will secure new exploration projects in Pakistan.

The GCC will be a marketplace spread over 1.087 hectares and will hold a 6.5 to 7 km sea front. The project will have an industrial village and the commercial village.

Additional 200 acres will be sought for building wind farms, gasification and desalination plants using reverse osmosis and some 180 acres will be adjacent for special community landscaping.

HRC Ltd has also joined hands with Green Energy Development PLC to develop and build a Renewable Energy city in the same facility to establish a complete research and manufacturing industry to produce turn-key wind turbines and solar panel systems made in Pakistan under license by world class suppliers.

In addition HRC Ltd will develop a special industry technology center for developing a regional educational, training research and development institute. It will also build an advanced university that will encourage and stimulate international companies to promote their special programmes and courses to be held in Gwadar ultimately making Pakistan an exporting nation for highly skilled labour to special industries within oil and gas.

The GCC and HRC will develop numerous parks, botanical gardens, ponds and artificial lakes connected by paved walkways and palms creating picturesque and tropical scenery. The development is proposed to facilitate marinas, shopping malls, hotel resorts, business hotels, trade centers, equestrian, amusements etc.

The project will bring housing and accommodation for more than 50,000 people, attract more than 1,500 international companies and create thousands of new jobs.

Found this from urbanpk.com

 

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationwo...ck=2&cset=true
China's footprint in Pakistan
A new port is a boon locally, a potential military asset for Beijing and a worry to the U.S.
By Henry Chu
Times Staff Writer

April 1, 2007

GWADAR, PAKISTAN — Along a scenic beach where fishermen mend their nets by hand, an endless row of storefronts stretches into the distance, all selling the same thing. Not sunscreen, umbrellas or cold drinks. Land.

Never mind that the area is home to a violent separatist movement, or that foreigners are regarded with suspicion by police. A property boom has hit this formerly sleepy town in southwest Pakistan because of the latest addition to Gwadar's modest charms: a strategic new port on the Arabian Sea, almost all of it paid for by China.

The deepwater port has the potential to become a major shipping hub for Central Asia and China, particularly for the oil that China is sucking up to fuel its explosive growth. Gwadar, near the Iranian border, sits close to the entrance to the Persian Gulf and the Middle East, China's biggest source of crude.

But officials in countries such as India and the United States are eyeing the port warily, seeing more there than mere commercial value.

They fear its possible future use as a base for Chinese ships and submarines, given the close ties the governments of China and Pakistan have enjoyed for decades. From Gwadar, analysts note, China could project its growing economic and military might westward, toward the Middle East, western India and eastern Africa, and down into the Indian Ocean.

An internal Pentagon report leaked two years ago concluded that China was trying to establish a "string of pearls" along the rim of the Indian Ocean, ports that it eventually could use for military purposes. Besides Gwadar, Beijing has invested in ports in Myanmar, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

"At the moment, these are [just] fears," Ashley Tellis, an Asia expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said of potential Chinese military use of Gwadar's new port. "But there is no logical reason why the Chinese would not contemplate the military benefits of such a facility for the long term."

That Beijing considers the port in its national interest is amply demonstrated by the fact that it put up 80% of the $250 million in construction costs, is funding a new airport here and dispatched its communication minister to witness Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf inaugurate the port last month, with great fanfare.

"It is the friendship between China and Pakistan that has made my dream of Gwadar come true," Musharraf said. "We thank you. We thank China."

The idea of building a port at Gwadar has floated around in Pakistan for decades. It took on added urgency after the Indian navy blockaded Karachi, Pakistan's largest port, during a war between the two rival countries in 1971. But it was Musharraf, more than a quarter of a century later, who made a major push to get it done.

Backers of the project entertain visions of Gwadar as a new, more convenient gateway for trade from Chinese and Central Asian markets to points west. For China, closer access to the sea from its landlocked western territories, where a massive development campaign is underway, can save thousands of miles and days of travel for goods that would otherwise have to exit the country from the east on a much more circuitous route.

Optimists also hope that bringing prosperity might drain away some support for a militant secessionist movement here in Baluchistan province that has given the Pakistani government headaches for years. This rugged region is rich in resources, including large natural gas reserves, that the government in Islamabad would like to tap. But many Baluchis — ethnically different from the Punjabis who people the corridors of power — fear being unfairly exploited.

Construction of the port has been plagued by problems that do not augur well.

Delays in completing infrastructure works pushed back the port's planned opening by more than a year and reportedly triggered complaints from the Chinese side. Security became a big issue when, in May 2004, three Chinese engineers were killed in a car bombing.

Even now, rifle-toting soldiers and police officers are common sights, their dark uniforms stark against Gwadar's dramatic backdrop of jagged chalk-colored cliffs, deep blue sea and a colossal rock formation that thrusts into the ocean l

As India did to Karachi.....................................

 

She will do what is necessary in her interests.

 

Enjoy it while you have it, you PRC stooges.

 

Herald

Gwadar Port is expected to become fully operational by the end of this month with all three berths handling the arriving ships. However, more berths would be needed to handle big ships.

Islamabad has asked the Port of Singapore Authority (PSA) International, which is investing $550 million in Gwadar port, to expedite their work, especially after having received a 40-year tax holiday.

Since the Singaporean company took over the Gwadar port, it has overcome the operational problems it faced earlier, also caused by flooding of the coastal area. An Iranian ship carrying relief goods for flood victims in Balochistan reached the port recently.

The first phase of the port was completed at a cost of $298 million with Chinese assistance. After completion of second phase by 2010 at a cost of $840 million, Gwadar is likely to become one of the busiest ports in the region, providing warehousing, trans-shipment and industrial facilities for trade with over 20 countries, including Gulf countries, Iran, Central Asian States, India, China and East Africa.

Islamabad has extended tax exemptions and tax holidays for the industrial zones and duty-free economic zones to be set up in the area. A Special Industrial Development Zone (SIDZ) will be set up for which an area of 4,000 hectares has been ear-marked. The SIDZ will be located in the north of Gwadar town at a distance of about 30kms from the port. The federal government is providing Rs700 million to the provincial government to help meet 15 years of water demand of the Gwadar Industrial Estate (GIE) through installation of a foreign assembled desalination plant. Approximately 2,000 export-oriented industrial units have been planned in the GIE.

The Asian Development Bank has agreed to provide $1 billion for the National Trade Corridor (NTC) project that would link Karachi to Gwadar and Khunjrab in Northern Areas, close to the Pakistan-China border. The provincial government has directed the concerned officials to hand over industrial plots to allottees as per prescribed rules.

The future demand of water supply will be met partly by recycling of waste water and partly by addition of the desalination plant. An area 20 acres will be made available free of cost through the GIE to set up water desalination plant, storage tanks and other facilities. The total cost of water supply from the plant is estimated at Rs0.25 per gallon against the cost of water supplied by tankers at Rs0.76 per gallon.

Iran will provide electricity to meet the demands of its future commercial and industrial estates. Wapda recently signed an agreement with Iranian company Tavanir under which Pakistan will buy 100-megawatt power from Iran from January 2009. The Iranian company will invest $26 million and the Pakistan would provide $60 million for the project costing total $86 million.

While 100-km transmission line will be laid by Pakistan, Iran will lay 70 kilometre transmission line. The two grid stations of 220 KV will be installed, one in Gwadar and another in Iran’s Polan area. The tariff for one year has been fixed at 6.25 cent per unit and the price will be reviewed after one year.

The future demand for electricity may increase, according to an estimate, from 14MW in 2010 to 74 MW in 2030 and 370 MW in 2050. The government has requested Tehran to supply 2700 MW more electricity to meet the future power requirement of the port city. Iran is already supplying 35 MW electricity to the coastal belt..

Islamabad also plans to review the special incentives for the investors interested in setting up industrial units at EPZ at Gawadar. There will be tax exemption on customs, sales tax and excise duty in the EPZ with a view to promote substantial investment. Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has directed the ministry of industries and production to develop a package of incentives for EPZ to promote industrial development.

Foreign investors have shown interest in establishing mega refineries, building storage capacity and undertaking other businesses. The federal government is likely to announce a 15-year tax holiday. The federal cabinet has approved Gawadar Port Authority’s (GPA) revised bill for the new corporate structure of the port.

Islamabad also plans to develop a modern facility for repair and maintenance of bigger local and foreign ships and vessels in collaboration with some leading international shipyards. Daewoo Shipyard of the South Korea has shown interest to work with a subsidiary of the Karachi Shipyard and Engineering Works (KSEW).

Pakistan intends to take advantage of strategic location of Gwadar and fast pace of growth of maritime activity in the region. The capacity in the Gulf for repair of vessels is limited and Gwadar can turn out to be an ideal place for such a facility. The facility can be upgraded to undertake state-of-the-art shipbuilding of bigger size and high-tech ships.

Th