THE Gwadar deep-sea port, completed in 2007, was supposed to be a shining success for the other newly built ports in the region and beyond. Yet eight years after the official launch of port operations — an event marked by the first-ever container ship with cargo from China passing through it — it lags behind even other China-built ports in Sri Lanka, Nigeria and Cameroon. Barely any vessel calls at Gwadar. Given the situation, it is not surprising that the planning and special initiatives minister is vexed over the failure of relevant authorities to “market the Gwadar port to expedite its commercialisation”. Built as part of the multibillion-dollar CPEC transport and energy infrastructure project, the port remains a non-starter and, in the words of the minister, a “white elephant instead of becoming a regional transhipment hub”. During a meeting the other day, he blamed the maritime ministry and the NLC for their unprofessional handling of what would be the ‘crown jewel’ of the corridor initiative.

There’s a reason the government is concerned over the fact that the Gwadar port has not kept pace with similar facilities in the region. Robust trade through Gwadar is crucial to develop the region and alleviate rampant poverty in Balochistan. Hence, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has recently ordered to route 60pc of all public sector cargoes through Gwadar to “trigger port activities’. That is unlikely to happen anytime soon due to capacity constraints and much higher cost of transportation from Gwadar to the rest of the country compared with Karachi. On his part, the planning minister has directed the relevant authorities to hire an international consultant to prepare a plan to compete with other regional ports in attracting business for Gwadar. But a market plan, no matter how grand, cannot improve the security situation in Balochistan or bring peace to Afghanistan, without which it is impossible to get business from Central Asia. Nor can it convince China to relocate its industry here for export westward, or start importing oil through Gwadar. Moreover, it won’t help address the capacity and power supply issues that constrain trade through the port. Unless the issues containing the potential of Gwadar are addressed, no executive order or marketing plan can make the port city a regional shipping and trade hub.

Published in Dawn, January 12th, 2025