BEIJING, March 10: China and Pakistan have finalized a feasibility study on design and technical layout of Gawadar deep-sea port, phase-I, Chinese official sources told APP on Saturday.

An agreement will be signed next week, paving the way to undertake the construction of the project by the end of this month.

A delegation led by Communications Secretary Iftikhar Rashid is scheduled to arrive here on Monday to give final touches to the proposed construction plan. A technical team from the communications ministry is in China to study and negotiate the technical details of the project.

The first phase of the port would be completed at a cost of $250 million and Pakistan’s contribution would be 20 per cent of it. It will include development of 15.5m channel draining draft, construction of three berths and approach channel.

President Gen Pervez Musharraf is expected to inaugurate the project in the last week of this month.

The Chinese government will be represented at the ceremony by the vice-premier, Wu Bangguo. He is expected to arrive in Islamabad with a delegation on March 22.—APP