AsiaNet-Pakistan Premier Editorial Content and Press Release Distribution Service
Lahore, January 29, 2016 (PPI-OT): Gwader should be shaped as cosmopolitan city rather than just a trade route or a docking yard. This was urged by Mr. Shah Faisal Afridi, President Pak-China Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry while addressing to a Chinese delegation headed by Mr. Bian Xue Chong CEO PROJEN Ltd China. To achieve this, Pakistani decision makers need to bring in a composite national, legal and managerial framework that excites Pakistani economy and the people too, he added.
He expressed that, Pakistan can learn from the Chinese model Cities like Shanghai which is the busiest port of the world and have well regulated population mobility into cities through family registration or residency permits. He remarked that Pakistan needs to learn examples of international cities that act as trading, traditional and amusement cores in different countries of the world.
He elaborated that the Government of Pakistan and the Provincial Government of Baluchistan can work together to craft a Gwadar Basic Law, or a Gwadar Constitution, to impart the new city with a conclusive legal framework following the Chinese pattern of regulated population movement from all classes into cities through family registration or residency permits.
He stated that, “Urbanization is one of the most significant developments in China over the past three decades. Pakistan can study the examples and come up with something more suitable to Pakistani conditions, he added.
He said that the internal security system of Gwader should be arranged in very operational way. Local police should be trained for the purpose of dealing with locals and foreigners and has to evolve effective mechanisms in place to check crimes, smuggling and other forms of anti-social behavior. He further said, since Gwadar has great beaches within the city and nearby Pakistan should study the examples of tourist resorts in countries to develop this untapped potential of Pakistani coastal regions.
Mr. Shah Faisal Afridi emphasized that the government of Pakistan must nip any grievances in the bud before the CPEC issue grows unnecessarily and takes root. He said that all members of the Pakistani political parties, trade bodies, the media and civil society can receive regular briefings on the progress. He advised that such briefings should be well prepared so as to counter any attempts to make Gwadar and CPEC projects controversial. These are grand strategic projects and the Pakistani vision about the future should be equally grand, he added.
On this occasion head of the delegation Mr. Bian Xue Chong revealed that by making Gwadar an international city and the pivot of regional trade, Pakistan will also attract considerable investment into its most under developed province. He also expressed in his speech that these funds will allow construction of roads and railways, linking the coastal region with rest of the Pakistan and will also facilitate cultivation of vast regions and exploration of natural resources. This would ultimately help socio-economic uplift of locals through various development projects in this city, He added.
At the end president of PCJCCI pointed out that certain premeditated actors in the region wanted to see Gwadar and CPEC projects disrupted. Gwader being an international city would be emerged as a financial center and trading pivot of the region, which definitely attract talented residents from Pakistan and abroad. Therefore, Gwadar’s local governing structure should be able to embolden resident entrepreneurs, traders, financiers, artists, and other circles of intelligentsia to become part of the governing bodies of the city, he added.
For more information, contact:
Wardah Ali Gohar
Media Manager
Pakistan China Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCJCCI)
Mega Tower, 309 – 6th Floor,
Main Boulevard, Gulberg II,
Lahore, Punjab – Pakistan
Tel: +92-42-35777460-02, +92-42-37032203, +92-42-35874353
Fax: +92-42-35777524
Cell: +92-324-4925611
Email: info@pcjcci.org
Website: www.pcjcci.org