ISLAMABAD, March 1: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said on Thursday the National Trade Corridor (NTC) will require an investment of $1 billion per year over a period of next four to five years to link Pakistan’s major ports in the south with its major cities and trade routes to the north.
Chairing a meeting to review progress on building of the NTC, he said the ports, roads and railways along this corridor handle 95pc of external trade and 65 per cent of our total land freight.
“This is a major strategic initiative to improve the logistics chain throughout the country and to interlink it with all three adjoining regions of South Asia, Central Asia and West Asia,” he said.
An official announcement issued here said an efficient logistics chain comprising roads, railways, ports and airports is a critical element to reduce the cost of business, improve competitiveness and enhance productivity of goods in the country.
He pointed out that all stakeholders including Civil Aviation Authority, National Highway Authority and Pakistan Railways should constantly benchmark their performance against global standards as it will provide critical feedback to judge the quality of the improvement in the logistics chain. He also asked these organisations to improve their marketing strategies by hiring consultants from the private sector.
He said all out efforts were needed to ensure timely completion of all projects related to the NTC. He also emphasised the need to meticulously maintain and optimise the existing infrastructure while expanding the logistics chain in the country.Mr Aziz said to speed up the process of infrastructure development the government had adopted a public private partnership model whereby the government and the private sector could work together for implementation of projects requiring significant capital investments.
He also emphasised the need for improvement in inter-ministerial coordination to achieve maximum results from the improved logistics chain.
The deputy chairman, Planning Commission informed the meeting that an energy logistics committee has been set up under secretary petroleum, which will prepare an action plan by next month to carry out assessment of energy requirement together with the identification of its resources.
He said there was a huge potential of about $7 billion savings resulting from efficiency in the private sector logistics such as warehousing, shipping, inventory control and efficient administration. The potential should be fully tapped, he directed.
Federal Minister for Railways Sheikh Rashid Ahmed told the meeting that Pakistan Railways had increased its freight carrying capacity by 12 per cent last year with the induction of three new freight trains. The fourth one, he said, would be started soon. The prime minister said that Railways’ long-term target should be to capture 30 per cent of the country's freight volume.