October 07, 2006	Saturday	Ramazan 13, 1427

KARACHI, Oct 6: Japanese firm Itochu Corporation is keen to participate in various projects of Port Qasim, which is the second largest port of Pakistan. This was revealed by a delegation of the corporation during a visit to PQA here on Friday.

The delegation comprising Itochu’s General Manager Pakistan, Yoshiki Yamashiru; General Manager Islamabad, Tetsuji Shibato; and Assistant Manager (Projects) Saqib Zafar Khan, called on Chairman PQA Vice Admiral Asad Qureshi.

The delegation evinced keen interest and offered cooperation in dredging and maintenance, including night navigation. They also offered soft loans for these projects.

The PQA chairman informed the delegation that the federal government was in process of finalising the list of projects to be undertaken at the port with soft loan financing.

He stated that the PQA was currently operating on around 60 per cent berth utilisation factor necessitating the development of new berths and terminals for increased capacity building.

Recently a liquid cargo terminal has been inaugurated with a capacity of handling 4 million tons of oil per annum, the PQA chief told the Japanese delegation.—APP