Pak PM in Oman; Gwadar, maritime trade top agenda

[LRE]

MUSCAT: When two countries decide to do business for mutual benefits their people are the principal beneficiaries of the ultimate outcome. Oman and Pakistan will be doing exactly that when the two sides get down to exploring ways of further strengthening their bilateral ties during Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani’s two-day official visit, starting today.
Gwadar and maritime trade between Oman and Pakistan is likely to be the main agenda as the Pakistani premier is coming here with three members of his entourage specifically connected to that area of interest.
Apart from Chief Minister of Balochistan Nawab Mohammed Aslam Khan Raisani, presence of Babur Khan Ghauri, federal minister for ports and shipping, and Sardar Nabil Ahmed Gabol, minister of state for ports and shipping, suggests that the two countries will be discussing the possibility of starting a maritime passenger and trade services between Gwadar and Muscat.
“The importance of Gwadar is growing by the day in an era of liberlisation and deregulation,” Yahya bin Said Al Jabri, chairman of Pak Oman Investment Company, had said in an interview some time back. “In our scheme of things Gwadar remains a top priority.”
Maritime trade between Gwadar and Muscat can be highly beneficial for the two countries as it takes only a few hours for a ship from Gwadar to reach Muscat while the distance between Muscat and Karachi is covered in about three days. Under the wise leadership of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said, the Sultanate has shown great interest in the development of Gwadar, which was part of Oman till 1958. The Sultanate has given generous grants as part of this coastal city’s development process, including $45 million for Gwadar International Airport and other projects.
It is this keen desire by the leadership of the two countries to translate their brotherly ties into realising economic goals that had brought the hitherto frozen relations out of the cold storage during His Majesty’s historic visit of Pakistan in 2001.
“The visit by His Majesty Sultan Qaboos to Pakistan in April 2001 was highly fruitful and a memorable event. The agreements concluded during the visit went a long way in further cementing the ties between the two countries. The government and the people of Pakistan greatly value their friendship with Oman and hold His Majesty the Sultan in high esteem whose pragmatic and progressive leadership has made Oman a remarkable country,” Karam Elahi, then Pakistan ambassador to Oman, had told Times of Oman in an interview after the visit.
It was during this visit that His Majesty had announced a grant of $100 million for the development of Gwadar and Balochistan. The setting up of Pak-Oman Investment Company with an equal capital of $12.5 million from both the governments was also a big step in the right direction. As a proof of this joint venture’s success, Pak-Oman Microfinance Bank was set up in Karachi in May 2006 to encourage small and medium entrepreneurs to set up their own businesses.
With the booming ties supported by ever increasing exchange of high-level visits, escalating volume of trade, better understanding of each other’s position, growing cooperation in the field of defence as well as existence of various finance and progress review bodies, Oman and Pakistan relations have come a long way and look to prosper even more in the future.
Sohail Amin, Pakistan’s ambassador to Oman, has often expressed his desire to see trade between the two countries doubling during his tenure.
Today, trade between the two countries stands at over $380 million, registering a healthy annual growth rate of over 36 per cent since 2001. The increase in the volume of trade with every passing year proves the existence of tremendous potential to further enhance trade relations and the prime ministerial visit is expected to give it a timely fillip.

times of oman dot com