February 14, 2007	Wednesday	Muharram 25, 1428

KARACHI, Feb 13: Port Qasim is to increase it cargo handling capacity from 31 million tons to 50 million tons per annum by developing a number of new terminals and berths in next four to five years.

This was stated by Chairman PQA Vice Admiral Asad Qureshi during a visit of trainees from ESCAP region countries namely Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Malaysia, Myanmar, Indonesia, Iran and Egypt.

He stressed upon the need of having effective mode of transportation to meet the growing global challenges where quick and safe delivery of goods has attained great importance.

As a result of this, he said, the containerised cargo was growing at a fast pace and, therefore, railways will have to play even more active role to eliminate tariff congestion from ports. The 13-member trainees’ team was accompanied by officials of Pakistan Railways Academy.

He said that Port Qasim was contributing immensely towards national revenues and growth by handing imports and exports on modern lines.

Mr Qureshi said that currently, the port had embarked upon a number of projects to enhance its capacity and had also attracted direct foreign investment for the purpose. — Staff Reporter