Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif today said Gwadar has the potential to be transformed into a successful free port on the same lines as Hong Kong to attract foreign investment and boost economy.
Sharif made the remarks during a meeting at the Prime Minister's office to discuss the Economic Corridor from Kashgar to Gwadar in Balochistan.
He emphasised that security was a requirement to attract investment and underlined that importance of dialogue cannot be ruled out.
Sharif also announced that the Chinese delegation coming to review plans for options regarding the proposed economic corridor would reach Pakistan on Monday.
Gwadar has the potential to be transformed into a successful free port on the same lines as Hong Kong to attract foreign investment and boost economy, Sharif said.
Talking about the recent deliberations of the Defence Committee of the Cabinet that discussed the issue of extremism and terrorism, the Premier said that there was also a need to address the energy crisis on urgent basis.
Sharif stressed the importance of a meaningful interaction with militants and said it will help address all issues.
"Importance of dialogue could not be ruled out," he was quoted as saying by the Dawn.
"The country could not progress unless law and order situation improved...It would pave way for economic prosperity," said Sharif, recalling his visit to China where the Chinese side expressed concerns about the security situation in Pakistan.
He said that Pakistan had to tender apologies for the killings of Chinese nationals in terror-related incidents.
"How long will we tender apologies? We need to rectify the wrongdoing," Sharif said.
Referring to the Economic Corridor, the Prime Minister said both sides were taking keen interest in the project as not only China but the entire region would benefit from this mega project.
He said Pakistan-China Economic Corridor was the future of the country.
Sharif recalled his earlier meetings which discussed the Trade Corridor from Kashgar to Khunjerab and Gwadar and in principal approved the proposed alignment of Pak-China Trade Corridor with the directions to further evaluate the proposal in terms of time and cost efficiency.
"Gwadar Port would help reduce the time needed for transportation of Chinese exports from 16 to 4 days, besides reducing the cost considerably," he said.
