Regional countries to ply Pakistani ships for trade with Sri Lanka
Monday, 14 October 2013 00:00
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KARACHI (APP): Pakistan’s Federal Minister for Ports and Shipping Kamran Michael has said that Sri Lankan Government has promised that all regional countries having ship trade with Sri Lanka would use Pakistani ships, which will help boost revenue and growth of Pakistan National Shipping Corporation (PNSC).
He said this while addressing as Chief Guest the third Logistics, Shipping and Supply Chain Conference and Exhibition at a hotel in Karachi on Thursday. He said the Government was taking steps to facilitate shipping, logistics and supply chain management.
The Minister said: “We are going to buy four oil tankers by next month and we are committed to increase our fleet of ships up to 15 in this financial year.”
Pakistan’s fish products are highly qualitative but unfortunately it has lost access to European markets for the last 12 years. However the Government is going to sign Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) with European countries to get the fish products access to European markets, which will be worth millions of dollars and euros.
Michael said that the Belgian Ambassador has proposed the development of an oil storage at Gwadar. An Industrial Zone consisting 1,325 hectares is being constructed at Port Qasim to attract foreign and domestic investors.
He said: “We are toiling hard to make Gwadar deep sea port fully operational in the upcoming five months. The deep sea port at Gwadar is visualised as a regional capital hub, serving commercial traffic to and from Central Asian Republics (CARs), Afghanistan the Middle East, the Gulf, Xinjiang, Iran, and Sourth Asia. An oil conduit from Gwadar to China will open tremendous avenues of progress and prosperity in the region.”
The Minister highlighted the issues of the logistics industry in general and ports and shipping in particular and offered his full cooperation to resolve the issues related to ports and shipping.
The conference was attended by leading professional associations including Pakistan Shipping Association, Pakistan International Freight Forwarding Association, Air Cargo Agents Association of Pakistan, Supply Chain Association and stakeholders. Leading experts and high officials also addressed the gathering.
