March 7, 2003	Friday	Muharram 3, 1424

ISLAMABAD, March 6: The government is considering a proposal to establish more dry ports in main cities aimed at promoting trading activities in the country.

Official sources in the Ministry of Industries and Production told Dawn on Thursday that in the first step a dry port was proposed to be established at Sukkur.

Elaborating the project, the officials said the main goods railway station at Sukkur was in fact a readymade dry port and it only required renovation and provision of furniture to become fully operational.

The Pakistan Railways, the National Logistic Cell and the officials of customs house, Hyderabad, have already inspected the site on different occasions in the past and found it suitable for dry port operation, said the officials.

The officials said the ministry has sent the proposal to the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the cabinet to direct the Central Board of Revenue to establish the port at Sukkur.

The officials were of the opinion that the Pakistan Railways, the NLC and the private sector bonded carriers of dry port cargo could profitably start transshipment of dry port cargo to and from Sukkur dry port. The customs collectorate of Hyderabad would provide staff from within its existing strength for running the proposed dry port, added the officials.

Explaining the importance of the proposed port, the officials said that from Sukkur only dates worth Rs2billion were annually exported. There is a vast potential for export of rice, cotton and citrus fruits and vegetables from the region, they said.

The establishment of dry port would also exponentially enhance the potential of this region, the officials said and added the rational behind proactive provision of dry port facility at Sukkur, which is almost cost free at present because all necessary prerequisites are already available at Sukkur railway station.

The Sukkur Chamber of Commerce and Industry has also been demanding the establishment of a port for the last 20 years, which is yet to be established.

The officials said greater advantage of the dry port would be that it was a doorstep facility, which helped save precious management time of entrepreneurs for proper utilization in production at shop-floor rather than its wastage in distant mega cities for sorting out import and export problems.

Dry ports are also a necessity to make import and export possible from the doors of the consigner to the doors of the consignee, which is the key to the global supply chain management in the world today, added the officials.