sparklingway
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The News Editorial - Changing hands
The port of Gwadar has seemed to fall short of expected potential – but that may be about to change. Chinese money and Chinese labour built much of it, and the expectation may have been that the contract for operating the new port would have gone in the same direction – but it went to the Port of Singapore Authority instead. The PSA has a contract to operate the port for the next forty years, but has failed to make the investment that it was contracted to make and has yet to dock and unload a single ship. Enter the Chinese – maybe. We now enter the realm of ‘official sources’ who are said to have confirmed that there is now an ‘understanding’ between ourselves and the Chinese that the contract will be seen as void between ourselves and the PSA and instead the port will be operated by the Chinese. Maybe.
Contracts such as that which we have with the PSA are not things you walk away from on a whim. They take years to develop and changing ships mid-voyage is no easy matter. However, there are a number of points which would suggest that the Chinese may be more profitable partners for us at Gwadar. Not the least of these is the vast tonnage of shipping that they could bring in, the oil and gas termini they could develop and the potential for infrastructure development that would follow along. We have already inked an agreement with the Chinese for a feasibility study of a rail link roughly parallel to Karakoram Highway. It is no stretch of the imagination to see that link running from Kashgar to Gwadar in the next ten to fifteen years. They are already working with us in Gilgit-Baltistan on the upgrading of the KKH to an all-weather highway, they are resilient people and able to work in the sometimes difficult environment we present. Before we get carried away with the possibilities, there is a world of difference between an ‘understanding’ and a done deal. The geopolitical ramifications are complex and some of our existing partners may not take kindly to this change of tack – but there is a whiff of change in that onshore breeze.
Changing hands
The port of Gwadar has seemed to fall short of expected potential – but that may be about to change. Chinese money and Chinese labour built much of it, and the expectation may have been that the contract for operating the new port would have gone in the same direction – but it went to the Port of Singapore Authority instead. The PSA has a contract to operate the port for the next forty years, but has failed to make the investment that it was contracted to make and has yet to dock and unload a single ship. Enter the Chinese – maybe. We now enter the realm of ‘official sources’ who are said to have confirmed that there is now an ‘understanding’ between ourselves and the Chinese that the contract will be seen as void between ourselves and the PSA and instead the port will be operated by the Chinese. Maybe.
Contracts such as that which we have with the PSA are not things you walk away from on a whim. They take years to develop and changing ships mid-voyage is no easy matter. However, there are a number of points which would suggest that the Chinese may be more profitable partners for us at Gwadar. Not the least of these is the vast tonnage of shipping that they could bring in, the oil and gas termini they could develop and the potential for infrastructure development that would follow along. We have already inked an agreement with the Chinese for a feasibility study of a rail link roughly parallel to Karakoram Highway. It is no stretch of the imagination to see that link running from Kashgar to Gwadar in the next ten to fifteen years. They are already working with us in Gilgit-Baltistan on the upgrading of the KKH to an all-weather highway, they are resilient people and able to work in the sometimes difficult environment we present. Before we get carried away with the possibilities, there is a world of difference between an ‘understanding’ and a done deal. The geopolitical ramifications are complex and some of our existing partners may not take kindly to this change of tack – but there is a whiff of change in that onshore breeze.
Changing hands
