About Gwadar

Gwadar

The word «Gwadar» is a combination of two Balochi words—»Gwat» («wind») and «Dar» («gateway»). After independence in 1958 Pakistan bought it back from sultan of Omans rule for 5.5 billion rupees with effect from 8 December 1958. Gwadar is blessed with natural beauty is now set to be a mega seaport, assuming strategic and economic dimensions. Gwadar Port is a strategic warm-water deep-sea port which is fully operational 365days of a year is developed jointly by the Government of Pakistan and the Government of China at a cost of USD $248 million and officially opened by the President of Pakistan on 20 March 2007 and In 2013, Gwadar Port operations were officially handed over to China for 40years.

Gwadar has been developed under an urban master plan approved by the Gwadar Development Authority (GDA) with major focus on the fast-track construction of roads, other infrastructure and public buildings. Under the contract with China, the port will be further developed into a full-scale commercial port, with an initial construction investment of $750 million. The port is said to be strategically important to China as it will enable Chinese goods to reach warm waters more safely and reliably within 2 days rather than covering distance of more than 16,000 Km. The journey takes two to three months, during which time the ships are vulnerable to pirates, bad weather, political rivals, and other risks. In addition govt of Pakistan has granted superb relaxations like tax holiday, free economic zone and duty free port for 20 years which has dawned the new era of prosperity and development in this region.