Gwadar an ideal location for shipyard construction: Senate body
ISLAMABAD: Gwadar offers an ideal location for construction of state-of-the-art shipyard as there is no ship building facility in the entire gulf region.
This was observed by the Senate Standing Committee on Defense Production in a meeting held under the chairmanship of Senator Lt Gen (R) Abdul Qayyum here at the Parliament House.
Committee was briefed on the current status of Gwadar Shipyard project spreading over an area of 750 acres of land.
Committee chairman Senator Lt Gen (R) Abdul Qayyum observed that shipyards are considered strategic assets for any country as they not only contribute to the country’s indigenous commercial and defense pursuits but also earn a lot of revenue through ship exports.
The committee emphasized the need to expedite the work on the project to complete it in stipulated time frame. The committee decided to take up the matter with the Balochistan government and write a letter to the chief minister in this regard.The committee also decided to have an exclusive session on the overall progress made on the Gwadar Shipyard project. During the meeting, the chairman of the committee highlighted that at the time of Pakistan's creation, we only inherited one shipyard at Chittagong which was modernized in 1922 by the British.
Bangladesh now has 23 shipyards and become ship exporting country, he added.
Pakistan, he said, remained dependent on Karachi Shipyard and Engineering Works Limited (KS&EW) constructed in 1957. The committee was also briefed on the status of audit paras in the Public Accounts Committee.
It was informed that currently more than 550 audit paras remained pending before the PAC and efforts are being made to settle them as early as possible. The chairman of the committee directed the ministry to vigorously pursue the pending paras and settle them at the earliest.
Secretary of Defense Production Lt Gen (Retd) Dr Zahid Latif informed that a total of 100 billion rupees budget was allocated for the ministry out of which 78 billion rupees have been utilized. - APP
It was informed that the aim of the defense production institutions is to meet the requirements of the Armed Forces and self-reliance through indigenization and contribute to the overall development of the country via effectively marketing the products.
The committee chairman observed that defense production institutions need to adopt outward policy and we should establish the defense production organizations as public private interface to make it compatible with the international markets.
He emphasized that no compromise should be made on the quality to remain internationally competitive.
The committee called for making the defense production establishments more vibrant to compete in the international markets.
Senator Nauman Wazir Khattak said the committee should be provided with the balance sheet depicting the income and expenditure details while senator Pervaiz Rashid suggested for adopting an openup approach to transform the Defense Production institutions.
APP