TORONTO, July 27: An internationally known Swiss-German firm — Interglobe — has offered to create a rail link between Karachi and the Central Asian states via Afghanistan.

This was disclosed by Karachi city Nazim, Niamatullah Khan, while talking to Dawn here on Friday.

Khan, who is currently on a 20-day tour of seven countries, said that the firm has finalized proposals to link Karachi with Central Asia to help boost trade in the region.

He said that the same firm is also working on a proposed $1.2 billion plan to create a rail network within Karachi on the basis of BOT (build, operate and transfer).

Elaborating, the city Nazim said that the firm would build the network, operate it for some time, and then hand it over to the local government.

Khan has already undertaken a tour of the People’s Republic of China, Thailand, the UAE, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the US before coming to Toronto last week.

He described his tour as “very useful,” and said that he signed numerous MoUs (memoranda of understanding) with several private sector organizations in the field of urban transport and construction of houses for people of low income groups in Karachi.

Khan said that the Karachi civic body is seeking the World Bank’s financial assistance to implement a solid waste management project to keep the city clean and pollution free.

He added that the municipality is paying full attention to the construction and repair of roads in Karachi, saying that, “We are making sincere efforts to revive the beauty of Karachi.”

The city Nazim revealed that plans were also under way to develop beach-side tourist resorts in Karachi.