ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Kazakhstan have agreed to explore joint ventures at Gwadar port in Balochistan, as Islamabad seeks to position the deep-sea facility as a regional hub linking Central Asia to global trade routes, officials said on Tuesday.
Maritime Affairs Minister Muhammad Junaid Anwar Chaudhry met Kazakh Ambassador Yerzhan Kistafin in Islamabad, where the two sides discussed expanding cooperation in maritime trade and logistics, according to a statement from the ministry.
Chaudhry proposed joint ventures in Gwadar’s free zones, saying the port’s location near the Strait of Hormuz provides Kazakhstan and other landlocked Central Asian republics with direct access to the Arabian Sea, Gulf markets, Africa and Southeast Asia.
“Kazakhstan is keen to use Pakistan’s seaports as transit hubs for the Central Asian region,” the statement quoted Kistafin as saying, adding that a high-level Kazakh delegation led by the country’s communication minister would soon visit Pakistan for detailed talks.
Gwadar is central to Pakistan’s strategy of leveraging its geography to connect Central Asia with the rest of Asia under Islamabad’s “Vision Central Asia” policy. The port, a key component of the multi-billion-dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), has been promoted as an alternative trade gateway for regional economies.
Islamabad is banking on Gwadar, alongside Karachi port, to help revive its fragile $350 billion economy by expanding transit trade, boosting foreign investment and deepening links with Central Asia.
