Gwadar - A Jewel in the Crown

[Neo]

Pakistan port opens new possibilities
By Syed Fazl-e-Haider

QUETTA, Pakistan - President General Pervez Musharraf on Tuesday formally opened Gwadar Port in Pakistan's Balochistan province, the South Asian country's third port.

The Arabian Sea port will be completed at a cost of Rs16 billion (US$264 million), with financial and technical assistance of China, which has so far provided 80% of the $248 million initial development costs.

The operation and management of the port was handed over to the
Port of Singapore Authority (PSA) under an agreement signed between the Gwadar Port Authority (GPA) and the Concession Holding Co (CHC) - a subsidiary of the PSA. The CHC is committed to invest $550 million over the next five years.

The agreement, which regulates the rights and obligations of both parties, has a duration of 40 years, with the GPA receiving revenue from the PSA. The investment attracted and revenue generated by Gwadar Port have been estimated at between $23.6 billion and $42.2 billion.

Gwadar is on the southwest coast of Pakistan, close to the Strait of Hormuz that links the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. Its location marks the confluence of three increasingly important regions - the oil-rich Middle East, heavily populated South Asia, and resource-rich Central Asia. The seaport will serve as an economic and trade transit point for Pakistan and Afghanistan, as well as Central Asian and Middle Eastern countries.

It is expected that the port will not only promote trade with Persian Gulf states, but will also facilitate the transshipment of containerized cargo, unlock the development potential of the hinterland, and emerge as a regional hub for major trade and commercial activities. It is also expected that Gwadar, 70 kilometers east of the Iranian border and in close proximity to Gulf shipping lanes, will handle transshipment traffic for the Gulf and ports on the Arabian Peninsula.

Some analysts see an operational Gwadar port as China's first foothold in the oil-rich Middle East, as well as providing road and rail links to the economic powerhouse. Beijing wants Gwadar to be the gateway port for its western region, as its eastern seaboard is 3,500km from Kashgar, the main city in the far west of China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, whereas the distance from Kashgar to Gwadar is only 1,500km. This makes it feasible and cost-effective for China's interior regions to carry out trade through this port. That is why China expressed interest in helping Pakistan to develop Gwadar into a full-fledged deepwater commercial port, capable of handling cargo ships of up to 50,000 tons or more.

Energy-hungry China is eyeing Central Asia's oil and gas reserves and is increasingly looking to Pakistan for oil and gas supplies. Beijing plans to run at least five oil and gas pipelines to Gwadar from the Central Asian republics and wants to turn the facility into a transit terminal for Iranian and African crude-oil imports.

Gwadar is expected to play a key role in China's energy security, as its strategic location gives it greater scope as a free oil port in the region, and it will be the endpoint of all gas pipelines from Central Asian states, Iran and Qatar. Pakistan and China have also held talks on the construction of the strategic pipeline from Gwadar to China's borders, enabling it to import oil from Saudi Arabia.

The port has a depth of 14.5 meters and an approach channel of 5km. Three multipurpose berths of 210 meters in width have also been built. The port can currently handle bulk carriers of up to 50,000 deadweight tons through its three berths.

The dredging of Gwadar Port's 4.5km approach channel was completed in February.

The CHC has established four separate operating companies - PSA Gwadar Ltd, PSA Gwadar Terminals Ltd, Gwadar Marine Services Ltd and Gwadar Free Zone Co Ltd.

Beijing wants to build a refinery and petrochemical complex with an initial 10 million tons per year capacity, later expanding to 21 million tons. Under a memorandum of understanding signed between Pakistan and the China, the Great United Petroleum Holding Co (GUPC) began carrying out a feasibility study and preparation work for the petrochemical city project last December.

The GUPC, China's largest private petroleum group, was established in June 2005 and is a conglomerate of nearly 50 private petroleum enterprises. China's petroleum industry has been monopolized by large state-owned enterprises such as the China National Petroleum Corp (CPNC), China Petrochemical Corp (Sinopec) and China National Offshore Oil Corp. However, the establishment of the GUPC, through the unification of private enterprises, has helped to break up China's state petroleum monopoly.

The petrochemical city, a two-phase project, is part of the proposed oil mega-city in Gwadar. In the first phase, the petrochemical city will be set up. In the second phase, the biggest refinery and petrochemical logistics and storage complexes will be set up.

Pakistan has allocated 5,060 hectares of land in Gwadar for the project, which will be leased at nominal rates to parties interested in establishing the refineries or investing in oil logistics and storage facilities.

In the first three years, the refinery will be able to refine 10.5 million tons of oil annually. In the first phase, its capacity is expected to be increased to refine up to 21 million tons of crude oil within seven to nine years. In the second phase, the capacity of the refineries will be increased to refine 63 million tons of crude oil within 15 years.

The Chinese Petroleum Chamber has also shown keen interest in the $12.5 billion investment plan for constructing the petrochemical city and shifting energy-related industry to the Gwadar Port Energy Zone (GPEZ).

The two countries will set up a joint-venture consortium to finalize the preferential policy and tax incentives package for the establishment of the GPEZ. It has also been estimated that the GPEZ will be able to attract investment of about $13 billion. The proposed zone will comprise an oil refinery, liquefied-natural-gas terminals and petrochemical plants.

Islamabad is finalizing incentive packages to induce the Chinese petroleum-services industry to relocate to the GPEZ. The incentives may include free land for refinery construction, unlimited duty-free import of crude for processing, and sales-tax exemption for refined-product exports.

A Pak-China Energy and Trade Cooperation Promotion Association has been proposed to be established for steering these plans. The association would be broad-based and include members from the oil-and-gas and power sectors. Pak-China Joint Investment Co has been proposed to finance the projects.

According to official sources, both countries will announce the establishment of the Pak-China Joint Investment Co during the visit of Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz to China next month.

Critics in Pakistan oppose the idea of China being heavily involved in the development of Gwadar Port. They believe that Gwadar should have a neutral image and that Islamabad must declare it an open port. They also believe that continued emphasis on Gwadar's strategic position may be at the expense of some of the economic benefits it can provide.

Musharraf also announced on Tuesday that the country's fourth port will be built at Sonmiani in Balochistan.

Syed Fazl-e-Haider, sfazlehaider05@yahoo.com, is a Quetta-based development analyst in Pakistan. He is the author of six books, including The Economic Development of Balochistan, published in May 2004.

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/IC22Df02.html

 

[Neo]

Mar 29, 2007

Land prices soar at Pakistan's prize port
By Syed Fazl-e-Haider

QUETTA, Pakistan - The value of real estate in the new Pakistani port city of Gwadar has already increased substantially and the launch of the second phase of work on the much-delayed deepsea port project may send the cost of land soaring to unprecedented heights.

Islamabad has decided to set up a tax-free industrial zone of international standard in Gwadar. Investors and entrepreneurs, particularly from Central Asia, Afghanistan, China, South Korea, Japan and Singapore, have shown a keen interest in establishing industrial estates in the port city. The government has allowed China and South Korea to set up tax-free special industrial development zones in Gwadar.

Gwadar is set to make the transition from a small coastal town to a cosmopolitan port city. The inauguration of the project this month has driven up the cost of land, which has increased in value several times since March 2002, when work on the project was started. Business people from all over the country and abroad are showing interest in the area, and Pakistan is offering more concessions to foreign investors for the development of the second phase of the project.

According to official sources, leading international investors have shown a keen interest in Gwadar because of its strategic location and potential for becoming a major transshipment trade center in the region.

Gwadar has been designed to operate as a hub port, and it aims to provide better investment incentive packages than ports such as Hong Kong, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates' Jebel Ali. The port project aims to accommodate facilities that will help to develop Gwadar as an industrial city - privately owned warehouses and cold storage, private cargo-handling equipment, truck yards and corporate infrastructure such as offices along the same lines as Jebel Ali, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore.

Gwadar is currently the focus of a speculative trade in real estate that has reached almost a frenzy as brokers book sale and purchase orders for properties that are still in the planning stage. While buyers seem anxious to snap up more land in Gwadar, the brokers are also overzealous.

Rich investors are being persuaded to buy plots in industrial estates and residential plots in housing schemes in and around Gwadar.

Before the inauguration, there had been some concerns over investing in the area, but these were allayed once Islamabad signed an agreement with the Port of Singapore Authority to operate Gwadar Port.

Moreover, the government's announcement that it is establishing a huge industrial estate, a free-trade zone and other projects, including oil terminals and huge refineries, again attracted investment in Gwadar real estate.

The Balochistan government has allotted land for the construction of warehouses in Gwadar, while plots have been set aside in the Gwadar Industrial Zone for the construction of warehouses to facilitate importing and exporting. More than 50 private housing and commercial schemes are currently selling plots in the new port city.

Pakistan-based Hashoo Group of Companies, one of the leading business groups in Pakistan, has launched "Golden Palms" - a US$70 million real-estate project in Gwadar. It is targeting non-resident Pakistanis in the UAE as well as locals. The project, spread over 400 hecares, offers plots of 1,000 and 2,500 square yards (836 and 2,090 square meters) with fully developed infrastructure at prices ranging between $40,000 and $100,000. The first part of the project will create a tourist resort on prime property near the beach. Hashoo Group, which is building the five-star Pearl Continental Hotel in Gwadar, also intends to establish a Marriott hotel and resort.

The government plans to spend $7 billion in the next eight years to improve road infrastructure, creating a network to link China and South Asian countries to Gwadar by 2014.

Industrial estate

The government has reserved 1,200 hectares for the development of Gwadar Industrial Estate (GIE), about 40 kilometers from Gwadar at Karwat on the Mekran coastal highway. The GIE is the emerging port city's first industrial estate and contains more than 1,100 plots.

The GIE will be the biggest industrial estate in Balochistan province. In the first phase, a special committee has allotted 460 hectares to industrialists, while 455 applications are pending. Development work is under way and 2.8 hectares have been handed over to the Quetta Electricity Supply Co for construction of a 24-megawatt grid station. It will cost Rs100 million (US$2.3 million) and it will get its power supply from Iran.

The GIE is aimed at small and medium-sized enterprises, with emphasis on the following: high-tech electronic fabrication and assembly plants; metal and wood fabrication and assembly; PVC housing and extrusion; fish processing and canning; textile and garments; food and flour mills; and refrigeration and cold storage.

The GIE master plan includes setting up factories to provide services for future small industrial and commercial enterprise. Housing schemes for workers and low-income groups have also been planned.

http://atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/IC29Df02.html

 

[Neo]

Thursday, March 29, 2007

Gwadar deep sea port: vision turns into reality

GWADAR: Gwadar deep-sea port, Pakistan’s third modern port and Balochistan’s first has become operational last week after its formal inauguration by President General Pervez Musharraf. The port will serve as a strategic storage, transit facility and a regional hub for major trade activities, along some of the busiest sea-lanes in the region.

The port operations commenced with the unloading of cargo from three cargo ships, which anchored earlier.

With the inauguration of Gwadar port, the vision and initiative of President Musharraf on Gwadar port has turned into reality.

The operation and management of the port was recently handed over to the Singapore Port Authority (SPA) under a 40-year agreement between the Gwadar Port Authority (GPA) and the Concession Holding Company (CHC) - a subsidiary of the SPA that is operating 22 ports in 11 countries, and will invest $550 million in next five years. The Gwadar Port can currently handle bulk carriers of up to 50,000 DWT through its three berths. A 5 km long channel, 14.5 meters deep and being close to the shipping lanes, the cargo ships will spend lesser time entering and leaving the Port.

The port will not only promote trade and transport with Gulf States, but will also provide tans-shipment of containerized cargo, unlock the development potential of hinterland and will become a regional hub for major trade and commercial activities.

Amidst the serene surroundings the rapidly expanding town of Gwadar today has numerous hotels and motels, including a five-star hotel Overlooking the Arabian Sea and the Gulf, the place has rich potential for tourists, from not only Pakistan, but also abroad.

Gwadar is the first seaport of Balochistan, which was completed in three years at a cost of sixteen billion rupees with the financial assistant of china. It will serve as an economic and trade transit avenue for Pakistan, Afghanistan, Central Asia and Middle East countries.

Gwadar, Pakistan,s first deep seaport, after functioning would change the fate of the area by transforming its socio-economic landscape. It would generate tremendous opportunities for the people of Balochistan as thousands of jobs and new business will be created by it.

Free economic zones would be set up near the port that would help harness vast potential in natural resources of the area. This port would also lead to the development of heavy and large-scale industries, petrochemicals and manufacturing sector. Pakistan is already strategically located and this seaport would increase this importance and make the access to the Central Asian States more convenient.

Singapore Port Authority, which would look after Gwadar port for 25 years, is running ports in almost 9 countries and would invest almost three billion dollars for the development of this port.

This port had been declared tax-free for 40 years and it is estimated that almost 50 million ton cargo would go through this port in next 10-15 years. It would give boost to the economy of the country and Pakistan would become the economical and trade hub of the region.

Gwadar is located on the southwestern coast of Pakistan, close to the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf, through which more than 13 million bbl/d of oil passes. It is strategically located between three increasingly important regions of the world: the oil-rich Middle East, heavily populated South Asia and the economically emerging and resource-rich Central Asia.

Gwadar Port is expected to generate billions of dollars in revenue and create two million jobs. This port would also lead to the development of heavy and large-scale industries, petrochemicals and manufacturing sector.

With a population of 125000, the Gwadar Town on Makran Coast is now set on way to become a hub of shipping, commercial and industrial activities.

The port comes as a much-needed national requirement in the wake of the rise in cargo traffic on Country’s ports, which are operating at full capacity.

It is expected that Pakistan’s maritime traffic would rise by three folds by 2010. With the construction of a third port, it is estimated that Pakistan will not only be able to meet its own requirements of the future but also offer its port facilities to the neighboring countries.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\03\29\story_29-3-2007_pg5_10

 

[Neo]

March 30, 2007
Foreign firms show interest in Gwadar port

By Parvaiz Ishfaq Rana

KARACHI, March 29: A number of port users have shown keen interest in the country’s third port at Gwadar which was inaugurated by President General Pervez Musharraf on March 20. The port operators, Singapore Port Authority (SPA), are presently holding preliminary meetings with authorities concerned for fixing tariffs and port charges which will be announced in a period of one month, official sources told Dawn on Thursday.

Strategically located at the entrance of the Gulf and about 460km west of Karachi, the Gwadar Port is also close to the Strait of Hormuz from where about 60 per cent of world oil moves out and is in the proximity of Central Asia and China.

Official sources said a number of port users have approached the Ministry of Ports and Shipping and the Gwadar Port Authority (GPA) showing keen interest in bringing their cargoes through the Gwadar port.

Most of the port users want to take the advantage of proximity of distance and feel that they could cut their freight charges as well as time.

These sources said foreign companies involved in copper mining and exploration works have also approached the Gwadar Port Authority.

Presently a number of Canadian, Australian and Chinese companies are operating in mining business in Balochistan and are of the opinion that they could save a lot of money by bringing their cargo from the Gwadar port.

Similarly, export of copper could also be cheaper through the Gwadar Port as it will save a long distance of about 460km when exported from Karachi ports.

Recently a delegation, comprising Canadian, Australian and Chinese companies, met the GPA high-ups to collect basic facts about the operational activity of the port.

The most encouraging development, the sources said, was the keen interest shown by a group of the Afghan Transit Trade (ATT) for bring their cargo through Gwadar Port and benefit from the proximity of distance of around 460km.

Presently around 300 containers per month pass through the Karachi port for onward haulage to Afghanistan.

However, if the ATT cargo shifts to Gwadar, it will give a big boost to the new port because there are already road networks up to the Iranian border.

Similarly, all local and foreign companies operating in Balochistan in mining and exploration works will also benefit the port as substantial cargo will start flowing through the port.

The GPA officials said the Singapore Port Authority is presently planning to bring second-hand two gantry cranes and two RTGs to gear up operations at the port.

Responding to a question, sources said presently almost all the world manufacturers of gantry cranes and RTGs are fully booked and if the SPA even goes for booking, it will take years to get new cranes and RTGs but the port could not wait for a long for becoming fully operational, particularly if it wants to handle containerised cargo.

Presently there are five installed cranes at the berths and two mobile cranes, but they could only handle bulk cargo. Besides, there are two tugs and two pilot boats with one survey and one working boat and a mooring boat.

Gwadar is the only port with a RoRo facility which means any heavy moving cargo could directly land on the berth without using cranes.

It has ultra-modern satellite system with VHF/HF facility. There is a desalination plant to meet the water needs of the port and could also be used for bunkering.

A 4.5mw powerhouse is there to meet the electricity needs of the port and oil storage tank of 50,000 gallons with expansion provision of up to 150,000 gallons.

There is a transit shed and a separate place for dangerous cargo and two weigh bridges. A reefer cargo space fully equipped with refrigeration facility is also available.

http://www.dawn.com/2007/03/30/ebr2.htm

 

[Janbaz]

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.

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 like a giant's arm.

Despite the image of welcome that officials are trying to cultivate to attract investors and visitors, the security forces sometimes operate with a heavy hand. When an American reporter tried to visit Gwadar a few days after the port opened, police officers and intelligence agents stopped him at the airport and confined him to a hotel for several hours until U.S. diplomats and apologetic Pakistani officials in Islamabad intervened.

In a recent editorial, the respected Dawn newspaper said the government had to ensure that local residents benefited from the port if it hoped to dilute resentment of its rule.

Any significant recruitment of skilled or semiskilled labor from other parts of the country "will be seen by the local people as an attempt to deprive them of employment opportunities now that they have at long last come to their area," the paper warned.

Because there is currently little industry in Baluchistan to take advantage of the port, some analysts predict that it could take years before the economic benefits become widespread.

For China, the advantages of the new port are obvious.


Gwadar would provide a more secure corridor for China's fuel and energy supplies in the face of instability in the Persian Gulf and also down in the pirate-infested Strait of Malacca, by Indonesia, through which 80% of China's oil imports now pass. From Gwadar, imports could travel overland up through Pakistan and into China.

Trade out of China's own restive western region of Xinjiang would also be easier and faster. The distance from Kashgar, on the edge of Xinjiang, to Gwadar is 1,250 miles, versus twice that distance to reach Shanghai.

Some analysts see a more strategic interest in Gwadar. They say it could play host to Chinese vessels, listening stations or an outpost from which Beijing could monitor the Persian Gulf and the Indian Ocean, including the U.S. Navy base on the remote island of Diego Garcia, a key launching pad for operations in the Persian Gulf.

But a beefed-up Chinese military presence in Gwadar probably is years away, if it happens at all.

"I'm extremely doubtful the Pakistanis will allow the port itself to become a Chinese base," said Pervaiz Iqbal Cheema, president of the Islamabad Policy Research Institute. "Pakistan and China are extremely close, and they would probably look after each other as much as their national interest permits. If our national interest permits that we go all the way, we may, but I'm skeptical about it."

At the moment, the mad dash in Gwadar is not about geopolitics but about capitalizing on exploding land values. Eager speculators and investors from Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi have flocked here; billboards tout shiny new housing projects yet to be built.

The brochure for Gwadar Florida City entices buyers with an imaginary future skyline that looks suspiciously like Miami's. When the company's first housing development went on sale in 2003, buyers snapped up 500 plots in three days, said local representative Abdul Hameed. Those parcels, each measuring 4,500 square feet and costing about $8,300 then, can go for four times that amount now.

Even some fishermen have noticed a rise in their fortunes.

"When we used to catch fish, there were no takers — we used to throw away half our catch," 55-year-old Mohammed Ibrahim said as he rolled up his nets, the sharp tang of brine in the air.

Recently arrived wholesalers now buy up Ibrahim's haul and send it off to Karachi. He has made enough money to buy a second boat. And he's not worried about migrants moving to Gwadar and horning in on his business.

"People are coming from outside," he said, "but the sea is so big we don't have a problem with that."

Los Angeles Times.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-...1&track=crosspromo&coll=la-headlines-business

 

[Janbaz]

Housing schemes mushrooming in Gwadar

By Muhammad Yasir
KARACHI: Gwadar, a port city and expected trade hub in the future, has been attracting a large number of foreign and domestic investments toward its development and infrastructure projects.

The prospects for lucrative business and profitable investment in real estate and construction sector have brightened with government encouraging housing schemes in the port city. Gwadar real estate is portrayed as an investment opportunity in advertisements of multiple housing societies.

According to the official data, there are 60 private housing societies who were issued No Objection Certificate (NOC) by Gwadar Development Authority (GDA). Majority of these private housing schemes are offering 100 to 240 square yards residential and 240 to 400 yards commercial plots.

Official sources, leading international investors have shown keen interest in the deep-seaport project due to Gwadar’s strategic location and potential for becoming a major trans shipment trade centre in the region.

Some big investors have entered the Gwader real estate market offering housing schemes for small investors. “We are expecting minimum four to six time high premium by investing Rs40 million on Gwadar land,” said an owner of housing schemes on the condition of anonymity, adding: “The spiral in real estate value would emerge and the demand and prices of property substantially would shoot up with passage of time.”

He told that land could easily be bought from area’s landlords who are keen to sell their property on reasonable rates, while a small housing society could be launched for Rs10 million spreading over 20-30 acre land.

He said that Iranian crisis could affect the value of real estate for the time being and hope that the market value would stabilise afterwards.The first private housing schemes was launched in February 2004 but with the passage of time the number of investors are pouring their capital in the land of Gwadar and various new housing schemes are coming appearing in the markets.

Local realtors told land adjacent to Gwadar City or Zero Point, Coastal Highway and Airport is high in demand and most of the housing societies are being set up near these centres. Besides, some housing societies have been announced near New Town and Singhar (the government owned housing societies) would be attracting big number of investors.

They told that the landlords of these localities, transfer their properties for Rs0.2-Rs0.5 million per acre. Land situated far from major development points is cheaper and available for up to five thousand rupees per acre.

The official sources said the GDA has not sold these lands to private housing schemes but were bought from the area people on their desirable cost. “A large number of local residents earned handsome capital on the exchange of lands.”

Saeed Baloch, a leading real estate consultant at Gwadar told The News on phone that big investors started capitalizing their money in the beginning of 2006 and launched their housing. All these housing schemes consist of 200 to 1000 residential and commercial plots of 80 square yards to 500 square yards. These announced housing schemes are offering Rs80,000 to Rs0.5 million for residential and commercial plots.

As far as development work of these launched housing societies are concerned, he mentioned that the roads are carpeted around only five to six housing private housing societies of Gwadar so far. Halsf of the housing schemes had completed demarcation process and the rest of them have only put up boards of projects name.

Saeed Baloch further told that locals are very keen to sell their properties on the desirable cost because they fear if they do not sell their lands the government would grab it for constructing its mega projects.

He said that some big landlords have sold their lands and set up their business in Dubai and other developed and commercial cities of the country. On the other hand, small landlords are setting up their businesses particularly in the areas of fisheries, boat-making, construction, food centres, hotels and wholesale and retail of various items.

At present, Gwadar has a population of 60,000, which may swell, according to some estimates, to at least a million people after the execution of various development schemes

The News.
http://thenews.jang.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=49381

 

[Neo]

Tuesday, April 03, 2007

Gwadar — China’s footprint in Pakistan

* The new port is a boon locally, a potential military asset for Beijing and a worry to the US

Daily Times Monitor

LAHORE: A property boom has hit Gwadar because of the latest addition to it’s modest charms – a strategic new port on the Arabian Sea – almost all of it paid for by China, according to a report in The Los Angeles Times (LA Times).

The report says that 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, the report said, adding that the two countries 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.

According to the LA Times report, 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 percent 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.”

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 in Balochistan that has given the Pakistani government headaches for years.

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.

Despite the image of welcome that officials are trying to cultivate to attract investors and visitors, the security forces sometimes operate with a heavy hand. When an American reporter tried to visit Gwadar a few days after the port opened, police officers and intelligence agents stopped him at the airport and confined him to a hotel for several hours until US diplomats and apologetic Pakistani officials in Islamabad intervened. Because there is currently little industry in Balochistan to take advantage of the port, some analysts predict that it could take years before the economic benefits become widespread.

For China, the advantages of the new port are obvious. Gwadar would provide a more secure corridor for China’s fuel and energy supplies in the face of instability in the Persian Gulf and also down in the pirate-infested Strait of Malacca, by Indonesia, through which 80 percent of China’s oil imports now pass. From Gwadar, imports could travel overland up through Pakistan and into China.

Some analysts see a more strategic interest in Gwadar. They say it could play host to Chinese vessels, listening stations or an outpost from which Beijing could monitor the Persian Gulf and the Indian Ocean, including the US Navy base on the remote island of Diego Garcia, a key launching pad for operations in the Persian Gulf. But a beefed-up Chinese military presence in Gwadar probably is years away, if it happens at all.

At the moment, the mad dash in Gwadar is not about geopolitics but about capitalising on exploding land values. Eager speculators and investors from Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi have flocked here; billboards tout shiny new housing projects yet to be built.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\04\03\story_3-4-2007_pg7_20

 

[Neo]

Thursday, April 05, 2007

Strike in Gwadar against appointment of ‘outsiders’

By Malik Siraj Akbar

QUETTA: Several employees of the Gwadar Port Authority (GPA) on Wednesday observed a strike and locked the Gwadar district government’s secretariat in a protest against the appointment of non-local people to various posts at the port.

According to GPA officials, the government has ignored local youths by recruiting non-local people. The protestors also staged a sit-in outside the district government secretariat. They demanded that the authorised concerned appoint local people at the port. “The government has backed off the promise that it would provide jobs to the youth in Gwadar,” Mir Abdul Ghafoor Kalmati, the Gwadar district nazim, told Daily Times.

He said the government had trained around 115 youth of Gwadar to appoint them at various departments of the port. “The government is ignoring residents of Gwadar while recruiting staff for the port,” he said.

Kalmati said he supported the strike. He said people in Gwadar deserved these jobs. “We will continue to support the strike call until the government meets our demands,” he said, adding, “Ignoring local people will foment the feeling of deprivation among residents of Gwadar.”

Though Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz had sanctioned the appointment of 30 new employees of grade one to 16 at the port, local residents grumble that none of these appointees includes a resident of Gwadar.

Wednesday’s sit-in was led by Faiz Nigori, a National Party leader, and Majid Shorabi, the tehsil nazim. Local government representatives from Jwani, Pishokan, Dashth, Pasni and Ormara also participated in the sit-in and shouted slogans against the GPA authorities. Baloch nationalists and some sections of the local population in Gwadar, where Balochistan’s first and Pakistan’s third port was inaugurated last month, have been expressing reservations over the development projects in the region.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\04\05\story_5-4-2007_pg7_3

 

[Neo]

April 09, 2007
Real estate boom in Gwadar
By Syed Fazl-e-Haider

WITH the handing over of operating rights of the Gwadar port to the Singaporean firm and its inauguration on March 20, the land prices in Gwadar have increased manifold.

Today, property deals in Gwadar are a lucrative investment. The prices of residential, commercial and industrial plots are going up. There is a real estate boom and businessmen from all over the country and abroad are showing interest in the area. In this city areas, such as Zero Point, West Bay, East Bay, Sangar Housing Scheme, Newtown Housing Scheme, Chib Kalmati, Kiya Kalat, Washin Door, Door Ghatti, Ziarat Machi, Jaurkan, Shanikani Dar, Ankara, Karwat, Shabi, Pishukan, main Jewani Road, main Airport Road and main coastal highway, have become the focus of real estate investors and brokers who seem active in buying and selling commercial and residential plots from one acre to 1000 acres.

The Gwadar Development Authority (GDA) has reportedly so far issued No Objection Certificates (NOCs) to 60 private housing societies. The rich investors are being lured into buying industrial and residential plots in and around Gwadar on payment under different packages.

Before the port inauguration, there was a dip in property prices in the city. This was mainly linked with the fears about security of investment. Moreover, a land scam also came to surface making people reluctant to invest in residential, commercial and industrial plots here. This trend affected the prices of real estate as people who had purchased residential or commercial plots started selling them to avoid further losses.

The situation has reversed after Islamabad signed an agreement with the Port of Singapore Authority (PSA) for operating the Gwadar Port. Moreover, the government’s announcement of setting up a large industrial estate, a free-trade zone and other projects, including oil terminals and refineries, attracted investors again to invest in Gwadar real estate. The provincial government has allotted plots in the Gwadar Industrial Zone for construction of warehouses to facilitate importers and exporters.

More than 50 private housing and commercial schemes are currently selling plots in the new port city. The prices of real estate have gone up by 100 per cent. A residential plot of 1,000 yard in Gwadar’s Sangar housing scheme was available at Rs1 million in January but today its price has doubled to Rs2 million. It is speculated that the price nay go up further.

The government has planned to spend $7 billion in the next eight years to improve the road-infrastructure for which a network would be ready by 2014 to link China and South Asian republics through Gwadar. It has also been planned to set up a civic centre in Gwadar that would be completed by August 2008. The port project aims at accommodating facilities that will help develop Gwadar as an industrial city-- privately- owned warehouses and cold storage, private cargo-handling equipment, truck yards, and corporate infrastructure such as offices along the same lines as Jebel Ali, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore.

The housing schemes and high-rise construction on commercial plots have been planned like those in Dubai, meeting the international standards. The government also plans to establish hotels, motels, playground, boating clubs, theme parks, Marino and other recreation projects in this city. The future port city will be connected to the whole of the country through land, sea and air links. Ware housing, buildings, commercial plots, support services and other facilities have also been planned to promote industrial activity in the port city.

The Balochistan government has directed officials concerned to hand over industrial plots to allottees in Gwadar special industrial zone. With the functioning of industrial zone, Gwadar would become a hub of industrial and trade activities. The government has also reserved 3000 acres for the development of Gwadar Industrial Estate (GIE) to meet the demand of industrial plots and to cope with the needs of industrialisation in the port city.

Located at Karwat on the Mekran coastal highway, about 40 km from Gwadar, the Gwadar Industrial Estate (GIE) is the first industrial estate of the emerging port city and the biggest in Balochistan. Over 1,100 plots have been allotted to industrialists in the estate. The GIE will meet the demand of industrial plots and cope with the needs of industrialisation in this port city. About 3000 acres have been reserved for the purpose.

Major groups belonging to Karachi and Punjab are engaged in real estate and construction business in Gwadar. The business groups from Balochistan and other local investors especially those affluent and feudal figures should also come forward, purchase land for housing schemes and industrial estates in Gwadar and announce special package for the local buyers.

Contrary to this, local landlords are set to benefit from the opportunity and are keen to sell their property on desirable cost to interested builders and developers, who are presently active in launching new housing projects. In fact, these landlords of the area are the natural and primary beneficiary of the Gwadar port project. The value of their land has skyrocketed after operation of Gwadar port making them millionaires overnight.

Political instability and unsatisfactory law and order situation have been hampering the real estate business in the province as a whole. The incidents of sabotage like bomb blasts, rocket attacks and attacks on national installations like rail tracks, gas pipelines and power grid stations have also restricted the investment in the property business.

There are so many unanswered questions and unsettled matters of socio-political nature but real estate investment is picking up. Speculative trade in real estate is booming., at least for the time being.

http://www.dawn.com/2007/04/09/ebr10.htm

 

[Neo]

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

China to help build new Gwadar airport: PM

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has said arrangements for the construction of the new Gwadar airport will soon be finalized with the Chinese government.

He said operationalization of Gwadar port had ushered in a new era of development and prosperity for the people of Balochistan, as it would generate unprecedented economic activity in the area.

Mr Aziz was talking to Balochistan governor Owais Ahmed Ghani who called on him at the Prime Minister’s House on Tuesday.

The prime minister said the newly-inaugurated Gwadar deep-sea port would serve as a trade corridor for the whole region, linking Balochistan with Afghanistan, the Central Asian Republics and China.

He said the government was now undertaking the construction of the fourth port of Pakistan at Sonmiani, which would be developed as a port city bearing the name Alladin Cove. In addition to being a port, the new city would be a tourist resort and an industrial hub and would open new vistas of economic opportunities and create thousands of jobs which would benefit not only Balochistan but the entire country, he said.

Mr Aziz said the government was focusing on providing employment opportunities to the youth of Balochistan and their quota had been further increased to six percent to give them full and effective representation in government jobs.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\04\11\story_11-4-2007_pg5_10

 

[ahussains]

nice thing to keep involve chinees in the Gawadar and in Balochistan too as the things are changing around the region .

 

[Neo]

China, Pakistan team up on energy

A new China-financed port on Pakistan's coast ups the ante in the new 'Great Game' for energy resources in the Middle East and Central Asia.

By David Montero

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan If China is to become the economic powerhouse it envisions, the road to its new future could run, literally, through Pakistan.

Or so the two nations hope. Last month, they inaugurated Gwadar Port in Pakistan's Balochistan Province, the first step in an elaborate "energy corridor" that will one day ship Persian Gulf oil from Gwadar overland through Pakistan to China. China bankrolled the $200 million port and plans to put billions more into railways, roads, and pipelines linking Gwadar to China. Pakistan hopes it will generate $60 billion a year in transit fees in 20 years' time.

The deal could point to new fortunes on the horizon. But many observers wonder what price the two nations will pay for such inextricable energy ties.

Gwadar shines a spotlight on a little-studied dimension of the global showdown for the world's depleting oil. Pakistan, with Chinese money, hopes to reinvent itself as one of the region's largest energy players  but it could also become a victim of the new Great Game, some observers say, crushed in the squeeze between the American and Chinese race for influence in volatile, lucrative Central Asia.

As China positions itself as Pakistan's chief patron, that could tilt Pakistan's center of political gravity, observers add, outweighing US influence dollar for dollar  and without the strings of human rights, democracy, and counterterrorism attached.

"The Americans come with a great deal of ideological baggage. There's none of that with the Chinese," says Richard Russell, a professor of national security affairs at the National Defense University in Washington. "[Pakistan's] interactions with the Chinese are not nearly as radioactive as with the US."

Analysts have long fretted over a possible collision course between the US and China over energy. China is now the world's second-largest consumer of oil after the US. Its consumption is expected to double by 2025, with 70 percent coming from the Middle East. Both giants are competing for finite supplies.

"I think most security experts are looking at this very closely because this is the closest access point China has to the Persian Gulf," says Gal Luft, executive director of the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security in Washington. "I don't know that this is something the US particularly likes."

Pakistan could be crucial to China's bid for regional influence. Transporting oil is currently a long, expensive, and dangerous process for Beijing, traversing some of the most pirated seas in the world. For that reason, China is rapidly diversifying its sources, cutting billion-dollar deals from Sudan to Iran and scoping out alternative transport routes through Burma (Myanmar), Thailand, and Bangladesh.

Pakistan is likely to be among the most important routes.

Sitting at the mouth of the Persian Gulf, the Gwadar Port, which becomes fully operational next year, will provide an overland energy corridor connecting the Middle East to Xinjiang, China's future energy base. That will cut transport by 12,000 miles, shaving a month off the journey's time and 25 percent off the fees. Washington speculates that Gwadar could also be part of China's push to protect its growing energy system with a robust Navy.

For Pakistan, Gwadar is a chance to refashion itself a global energy player  a dream in the making for several decades. The potential is rich, given its prize location near the Gulf, at the feet of the energy-rich Central Asian states, and in the shadow of South and Southeast Asia, which houses a third of the world's population and where energy demands are expected to soar.

Given the energy game's high stakes, some wonder if Gwadar will set off alarm bells in Washington. Last April, while hosting the China-Pakistan Energy Forum in Pakistan, President Pervez Musharraf was asked as much by a visiting delegate. But to a roar of applause, he quickly deflected the question: "I do not care about pressure from major powers. If Pakistan suffers pressure from certain major powers, I believe China will come forward to help us apply pressure on the other side."

Still, the opening of Gwadar is indicative of how China's largesse in Pakistan is coming into open competition with the US  and how that could alter the region's political landscape.

China's investment in Pakistan stands at more than $4 billion, with at least 114 projects under way, according to 2004 figures publicized by Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz. That's analogous to the more than $6 billion Washington has given Pakistan since 9/11, although Uncle Sam's money is earmarked for counterterrorism, not energy.

Last March, China seemed to one-up the US. It announced that it would invest another $12 billion in Pakistan. There was no mention of human rights, democracy, or terrorism. The Democrat-led Congress, meanwhile, is threatening to pull funds if Mr. Musharraf doesn't deliver more.

The contrast in policy objectives is telling, analysts say. The more money China dishes out, the more Pakistan is likely to gravitate toward Beijing as a countervail to US influence, given that Islamabad is increasingly pummeled to do more in the war on terrorism.

"[It's] a no-brainer," says Mr. Russell. "[Pakistan's] winning ticket over the long run is the Chinese."

It's a drift that Washington will certainly monitor, but ultimately may not mind, Russell adds. "India is going to play a greater role in democracy in the region and the Middle East," he says. "The US has more vested interests in India than Pakistan."

http://abcnews.go.com/International/CSM/story?id=3036249

 

[Neo]

April 13, 2007
Gwadar to have world’s fifth Coast Centre: Pact with UAE firm

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.

http://www.dawn.com/2007/04/13/ebr1.htm

 

[Neo]

Gwadar port operators get import duty relief

ISLAMABAD (April 21 2007): The Central Board of Revenue (CBR) has given exemption of customs duty on the import of machinery, equipment and bunker oil to the operators for rapid development of Gwadar port. The board on Friday issued a fresh notification granting customs duty concessions to Gwadar Port operators ie the Port of Singapore Authority (PSA).

However, the three-page SRO has laid down specific conditions for availing customs duty exemption for this mega project. Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet had directed the CBR to give duties and taxes exemption to the port operators.

Some of the major tax incentives include complete exemption from corporate income tax, duty exemption on import of material and equipment for construction and operations of Gwadar Power and Development of Free Economic Zone for 40 years and duty exemption for shipping, bunker oil for Gwadar port for 40 years and port operators would also be exempted from all local and provincial taxes for 20 years.

Gwadar Policy Board, chaired by the Prime Minister, has already approved concession agreement for 50 years. The operator would initially make an investment of $550 million over the next ten years.

The CBR Customs Wing has not placed this SRO.327 (I) 2007 on the official website for unknown reason. Similarly, the CBR is also hiding a Customs General Order of 2007 on new transhipment rules, which is a clear violation of Tax Administration Reforms Plan (TARP). The CGO was issued a few weeks ago and it was not a secret budget document.

http://www.brecorder.com/index.php?id=553460&currPageNo=1&query=&search=&term=&supDate=

 

[Neo]

UAE group to build solar, wind power plants in Gwadar

KARACHI (April 21 2007): A leading United Arab Emirates (UAE) based, Dhabian Group of Companies will set up a manufacturing unit to produce high quality but cheaper small solar and wind power plants in Gwadar industrial area.

This was stated by Khalfan Saeed Al-Mazrui, Chairman, Dhabian Group and Director General, private department of Shaikh Nahyan Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, President of UAE here on Friday. He said Norwegian technology would be used to produce small solar and wind power plants, which cost around 1,000 dollars each.

Each plant would generate electricity, sufficient to cater to the requirements of one village at a low cost. Local production of those plants would further reduce the cost due to cheaper local labour, he added.

These plants would be installed in the villages of Balochistan and Sindh where electricity has yet not reached. Al-Mazrui said that he had been told that 40,000 villages in Pakistan were without electricity.

In addition, Dhabian Soiltec has plans to install a desalination plant to produce 25 million gallons of water per day (MGD) in Karachi and the talks with City Nazim Syed Mustafa Kamal were held in this regard.

Similarly, he said, desalination plants would be installed in Gwadar for producing two million gallons of water per day each and an agreement had been singed with Gwadar Development Authority and Balochistan government.

Al-Mazrui pointed out that his group had already planned to set up One Stop Shop for offshore/onshore oil and gas services company on the coastline of Gwadar at a cost of 3.2 billion dollars. This will offer all facilities to cater to the needs of the regional countries including UAE, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Iran, Turkey, Iraq, India and China.

"We will also set up a most modern hi-tech university in Balochistan to impart latest knowledge in all disciplines of oil and gas besides investing in shopping malls, recreational centres, family entertainment areas, commercial complexes, five-star hotels," he opined.

He said that those trained people would not only be available for the fast growing oil and gas sector in Pakistan but could be exported to neighbouring countries to generate foreign exchange. "Pakistan is a very important country for UAE and we want to do more for its growth and prosperity through investment in education and infrastructure projects", Al-Mazrui said.

http://www.brecorder.com/index.php?id=553580&currPageNo=1&query=&search=&term=&supDate=