Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif kicks off development projects in Gwadar

Lahore : A string of development projects for Balochistan including a dam, Gwadar Free Zone, Business Complex and a University were unveiled, all aimed at mainstreaming the country’s remotest areas.

The unveiled plaques of projects included Gwadar Free Zone would be exempt from taxes for 23 years and covers an area of 2300 acres. The infrastructure would be completed in a year’s time and was being constructed by China’s Overseas Port Holding Company.

The plaque for a Business Service Complex that would house offices of companies involved in export, import and trade. The building would later house a Container Terminal also.

The other projects included inauguration of a school at Gwadar that has been gifted by the Communist Party of China. It has been constructed at a cost of US 400,000 dollars in a low-income area in six months period.

The Prime Minister also inaugurated the Shadi Kaur dam, 130 kms from Pasni and 70 kms from Gwadar with a storage capacity of 45000 acre feet. Work on the project began in June 2011 and the lake covers an area of 1813 sq km that would meet the irrigation and drinking water needs of the people of the area.

The Prime Minister also unveiled a plaque for the University of Gwadar that would provide quality higher education to the people of the remotest areas of the country and help them play their part in national development.