Pakistan's Blue Economy: Vast Offshore Resources in Exclusive Economic Zone

[Riaz Haq]

Pakistan has a 1,000 kilometers long coastline on the Arabian Sea with maritime sovereignty over 200 nautical miles deep Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and 150 nautical miles of Continental Shelf. This adds 290,000 square kilometers of sea or about 36% of the country's land area open for tapping vast resources in it.

Pakistan's "Blue Economy" in this extended economic zone includes seafood and energy resources as well as international trade connectivity with the rest of the world. It offers opportunities for water sports, recreation and tourism in the coastal areas of Pakistan. One sign of the recognition of Pakistan's blue economy is the ongoing three-day International Maritime Conference organized on the theme of ‘Global Geopolitics in Transition: Rethinking Maritime Dynamics in the Indian Ocean Region’ under the auspices of National Institute of Maritime Affairs.

Offshore Energy Resources:

A Pakistan Basin Study conducted in 2009 found that the country has six onshore and two offshore basins; offshore basins being the Indus basin and the Makran basin in the Arabian Sea.

Top 3 Offshore Drilling Sites in Asia-Pacific. Source: Bloomberg

The Indus offshore basin is a rift basin that geologists say developed after the separation of the Indian Plate from Africa in the late Jurassic period. It is believed to be the second largest submarine fan system in the world after the Bay of Bengal with high probability of hydrocarbon discoveries.

The Makran Offshore basin is separated from the Indus Offshore basin by Murray ridge, according to Syed Mustafa Amjad's report in Dawn. It is an oceanic and continental crust subduction zone with deepwater trenches and volcanic activity. The basin consists of oceanic crust and periodic emergence of temporary mud islands along the coast suggesting strong evidence of large hydrocarbon deposits.

American energy giant Exxon-Mobil has joined the offshore oil and gas exploration efforts started by Oil and Gas Development Corporation (OGDC), Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) and Italian energy giant ENI, according to media reports.

Each company has 25% stake in the joint venture under an agreement signed at the Prime Minister’s Secretariat in May 2018 among ExxonMobil, Government Holdings Private Limited (GHPL), PPL, ENI and OGDC.

Exxon-Mobile's entry in Pakistan brings deep offshore drilling technology, its long experience and financial resources to the country. It is expected to accelerate exploration and more discoveries.

CPEC and Trade:

Pakistan has built Gwadar as its third major deep sea port after Karachi and Port Qasim. Gwadar port's planned capacity when it is completed will be 300 to 400 million tons of cargo annually.  It is comparable to the capacity of all of India's ports combined annual capacity of 500 million tons of cargo today.   It is far larger than the 10-12 million tons cargo handling capacity planned for Chabahar.

"We believe Gwadar is following in the footsteps of Shenzhen which represented a historic population rise, from a population of 30,000 in 1980 to 11 million people in 2017. Gwadar is poised to see massive population growth due to incoming industries, and we expect this to be one of the most strategic cities in South Asia." Hao-Yeh Chang,  China Pak Investments Corporation

To put Gwadar's scale in perspective, let's compare it with the largest US port of Long Beach which handles 80 million tons of cargo, about a quarter of what Gwadar will handle upon completion of the project. Gawadar port will be capable of handling the world's largest container ships and massive oil tankers.

Gawadar port is being built in Pakistan by the Chinese as part of the ambitious $46 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) that will eventually serve as Hong Kong West for  growing Chinese trade with the Middle East and Europe.  CPEC will also enable Pakistan to bypass Afghanistan to trade with Central Asia through China across China's borders with Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan.

The volume of Gwadar property searches surged 14-fold on Pakistan’s largest real estate database, Zameen.com, between 2014 and 2016, up from a prior rate of a few hundred a month. “It’s like a gold rush,” said Chief Executive Zeeshan Ali Khan to an Express Tribune newspaper reporter. “Anyone who is interested in real estate, be it an investor or a developer, is eyeing Gwadar.”

Chinese private investment company China Pak Investment Corporation has recently announced it is acquiring 3.6 million square foot International Port City project in Gwadar. It plans to develop a $150 million gated community to handle the influx of 500,000 Chinese professionals expected in Gwadar by 2022.

Seafood Industry:

Pakistan’s fishing industry is very small relative to its vast potential. Pakistani fishermen own small fishing boats and their catch is very limited. The industry contributes only 0.4% of the country's $315 billion GDP.   However, the nation's seafood exports are growing, In fiscal year 2017-18, seafood exports increased 27.94% to 198,420 tons, earning $451.026 million.

Pakistani finishing industry is in  need of major modernization to make it more productive. China’s infrastructure investments in Pakistan are opening up the local fisheries sector on the Arabian Sea, with a major Chinese power station builder completing a fishing port as a “gift” to local people, according to a report in SeafoodSource. State-owned China State Power Investment Corp., which is building several power plants in Pakistan, said a new fishing port in Lasbela region on the Arabian Sea would aid the economy and increase the efficiency of the local fishing community in Baluchistan Province (of which Lasbela is part), says the report.

Summary:

Pakistan is beginning to focus on tapping vast resources in its 290,000 square kilometers of sea or about 36% of the country's land area.  Fishing industry is being modernized with Chinese help and Exxon has begun exploring offshore oil and gas reserves. Gwadar has been built as the third deep sea port and a major new metropolis is being built t hat could one day rival Chinese city of Shenzhen.

Related Links:

Haq's Musings

South Asia Investor Review

US EIA Estimates of Oil and Gas in Pakistan

Gwadar to Rival Shenzhen

Exxon Exploring Offshore Oil and Gas in Pakistan

Why Blackouts and Bailouts in Energy-Rich Pakistan?

Riaz Haq's Youtube Channel

PakAlumni Social Network

[Riaz Haq]

2019 #Oil and #Gas Exploration Off to Flying Start. Eni’s Kekra well in #Pakistani waters has pre-drill prospective resource estimates of 1.5 billion barrels of oil equivalent. #exxonmobil #Pakistan #offshore | Rigzone https://www.rigzone.com/news/2019_oil_and_gas_exploration_off_to_fl... via @rigzone

Oil and gas exploration is off to a flying start in 2019, according to independent energy research and business intelligence company Rystad Energy.

Global discoveries of conventional resources in the first quarter reached 3.2 billion barrels of oil equivalent (boe), Rystad revealed Monday in a statement sent to Rigzone. Most of the gains were recorded in February, which saw 2.2 billion barrels of discovered resources, Rystad highlighted.

Majors reported more than 2.4 billion boe of the discovered resources for the quarter, Rystad outlined in the statement. ExxonMobil was the most successful, with three offshore discoveries accounting for 38 percent of total discovered volumes.

“If the rest of 2019 continues at a similar pace, this year will be on track to exceed last year’s discovered resources by 30 percent,” Rystad Upstream Analyst Taiyab Zain Shariff said in the company statement.

The total volume of global conventional discoveries in 2018 was 9.1 billion boe, according to Rystad. Total global conventional discoveries were 10.3 billion boe in 2017 and 8.4 billion boe in 2016.

No Signs of Slowing Down
In the statement, Rystad said the push for “substantial” new discoveries shows no signs of slowing down, with another 35 “high impact” exploration wells expected to be drilled this year, both onshore and offshore.

Rystad highlighted that three such wells are already underway; the Shell-operated Peroba well off Brazil - with pre-drill prospective resource estimates of 5.3 billion boe, Eni’s Kekra well in Pakistani waters -with pre-drill prospective resource estimates of 1.5 billion boe and the Total-operated Etzil well off Mexico -with pre-drill prospective resource estimates of 2.7 billion boe.

“If these wells prove successful, 2019’s interim discovered resources will be the largest since the downturn in 2014,” Shariff stated.

Earlier this year, Rystad said improved market conditions and lower well costs had led exploration and production players to “ramp up” their 2019 exploration activities in all parts of the world.

“Renewed optimism in exploration activities is anticipated in 2019, with operators from various segments aiming for multiple high-impact campaigns – both onshore and offshore – in essentially all corners of the world,” Rystad Energy Senior Analyst, Rohit Patel, said in a company statement back in February.

“These include wells targeting large prospects, play openers, wells in frontier and emerging basins and operator communicated high impact wells,” Patel added.

Rystad is headquartered in Oslo and has locations in Houston, Singapore, London, New York, Sydney, Moscow, Stavanger, Rio de Janeiro, Tokyo, Dubai and Bangalore. The company traces its roots back to 2004.

[Riaz Haq]

#China trying to create its own globally decisive #naval force through #BRI. “These actions are not only directed at the #UnitedStates: China and #Russia are working to redefine the norms of the entire international system" #CPEC #Pakistan #Gwadar #India https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/china-trying-to-create-...

China is trying to create its own globally decisive naval force through the ambitious multi-billion dollar Belt and Road Initiative, the Pentagon has told the US Congress, warning that Beijing’s “unfavourable deals” strangle a nation’s sovereignty like an Anaconda enwrapping its next meal.

Touted as President Xi Jinping’s pet project, China is vigorously pursuing the Belt and Road initiative (BRI), offering billions of dollars of loans for infrastructure projects to different countries as it looks to expand global influence.

“China’s Belt and Road Initiative in particular is blending diplomatic, economic, military, and social elements of its national power in an attempt to create its own globally decisive naval force,” John Richardson, Chief of Naval Operations, told members of House Armed Services Committee during a Congressional hearing on Thursday.

“China’s modus operandi preys off nations’ financial vulnerabilities. They contract to build commercial ports, promise to upgrade domestic facilities, and invest in national infrastructure projects,” he said.

The BRI focuses on improving connectivity and cooperation among Asian countries, Africa, China and Europe.

The project has become a major stumbling block in India-China relations as the controversial $60 billion China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has been listed as its “flagship project“.

“Slowly, as the belt tightens, these commercial ports transition to dual uses, doubling as military bases that dot strategic waterways. Then, the belt is cinched as China leverages debt to gain control and access,” Richardson said.

“In the final analysis, these unfavourable deals strangle a nation’s sovereignty -like an Anaconda enwrapping its next meal. Scenes like this are expanding westward from China through Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Djibouti and now to our NATO treaty allies, Greece and Italy,” he told members of the House Armed Services Committee.

In his testimony, the top naval official said despite the United States’ persistent work over two centuries to keep the seas open to every nation and every mariner, there are those who seek to upend this free and open order and stem the tide that has steadily lifted all boats.

“As discussed in the 2018 National Defense Strategy (NDS), China and Russia are deploying all elements of their national power to achieve their global ambitions,” he said.

China and Russia seek to accumulate power at America’s expense and may imperil the diplomatic, economic, and military bonds that link the United States to its allies and partners, Richardson added.

“These actions are not only directed at the United States: China and Russia are working to redefine the norms of the entire international system on terms more favourable to themselves,” he said.

China and Russia are determined to replace the current free and open world order with an insular system, Richardson asserted.

“They are attempting to impose unilateral rules, re-draw territorial boundaries, and redefine exclusive economic zones so they can regulate who comes and who goes, who sails through and who sails around.

“These countries’ actions are undermining international security. This behaviour breeds distrust and harms our most vital national interests,” he told the lawmakers.

[Riaz Haq]

#Pakistan #ImranKhanPrimeMinister commits $1 billion investment in #Karachi port to boost #trade. Karachi is Pakistan's major maritime link to the outside world and handles over 60 percent of the country's imports and almost all of its #exports. @AJENews https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/04/pakistan-pm-commits-investme...

Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has unveiled a billion-dollar investment programme to improve infrastructure in the country's most important port city, Karachi.

Karachi is an economic hub and handles more than half of Pakistan's imported goods.

[Riaz Haq]

Jinnah Naval Base – Navy expands strategic outreach to West Coast, Persian Gulf

https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2016/01/13/jinnah-naval-base-navy-...

The base is situated 350 km west of Karachi and 285 km east of the Gwadar Port, and has been connected with China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

“With the development of this base, Pakistan has acquired the capacity to secure naval trade in these waters. Moreover, we have expanded Pakistan naval forces’ outreach towards the west coast into the Strait of Hormuz where all the oil traffic flows in and out,” an officer at the base told Pakistan Today during a recent visit to the base at Ormara which is otherwise restricted for media.

“Karachi would remain our focus for the foreseeable future. However, Jinnah base would reduce reaction time of Pakistan Navy to six to 8 hours in case of any adversity,” the officer said, adding that the base had a berthing facility “for anything from warships to submarines and from heavy ships to warplanes”.

Asked whether or not Gwadar would also act as a naval base for Pakistan, the officer said that Gwadar would act purely as a commercial base.

“Though Pakistan Navy has a small base at Gwadar, its main focus would be security of Gwadar. Jinnah base, on the other hand, would be a purely naval base which would help maritime forces monitor the entire coastal area from Ormara to the Gulf waters,” the officer said.

Rear Admiral (r) Pervez Asghar, an expert on naval defence, told Pakistan Today that Pakistan Navy had developed four bases along the coastal areas of Balochistan including Ormara, Pasni, Jewani and Gwadar which had helped expand its ‘strategic outreach’ towards the west coast.

“In the past, we only had one [naval] base at Karachi and our military installations were vulnerable to any Indian adventure. However, with the development of these new bases towards the west coast, not only do we have alternative options to defend our positions, our reaction time has also decreased significantly in case of any attack,” the retired naval admiral said.

He said that the navy now also had a submarine base at Ormara. “We have developed Pakistan marine corps to thwart enemy designs of amphibious landing around the coastal areas,” he added.

“Pakistan Navy is now well placed to secure all sea lines of communications (SLOCs) emanating from the Persian gulf towards Pakistan. Moreover, the naval infrastructure including Radars and communication gadgets, have now been able to overlap each other – a capability we had severely missed in the past,” he added.

He said that the new bases had also helped secure Gwadar Port as there was no military presence on the port due to its being commercial in nature.

“Now, navy’s special forces are better placed in Ormara to secure Gwadar Port and nearby sea routes. Moreover, Ormara base would also help neutralise the enemy’s narrative that they would be able to block Karachi’s harbour in case of a showdown,” he added.

Asghar said that Pakistan had also developed a jump-off base for Pakistan’s maritime aircraft at Pasni.

He said that Pakistan Navy had recently raised another naval station at Turbat, namely PNS Siddiq for P-3c Orion aircraft.

“These P-3cs are capable of flying over 14 hours nonstop without refueling. They have stealth technology and can fly below the radar and strike India’s Eastern coast. Pakistan Navy has also developed Naval Base Jewani, about 60 km from Iran to help expand its outreach into the Gulf waters,” he added.

Jinnah base would act as an alternative option for Pakistan Navy to Karachi where all the logistic and technical support for berthing navy’s ships and even submarines were available.

“We have developed the required facilities for technical repair of ships and submarines at the base. It is an alternative arrangement to the Karachi base and can easily meet our defence requirements. However, Karachi dockyard would still be the center for major overhaul or repair,” the Jinnah base officer said.

[Riaz Haq]

#Karachi #electric supply co to set up 700MW #power plant at Port Qasim. K-Electric holds equity share in this IPP, whereas CMEC is both an equity partner and EPC. The power project already has an approved tariff from NEPRA. #Pakistan https://www.dawn.com/news/1479319

K-Electric has planned to set up a 700MW power project with the assistance of a Chinese engineering firm, calling it a milestone project in the economic cooperation bet­ween China and Pakistan.

The project, it said, would directly benefit the country’s economic hub and “meet the growing power demand of Karachi and its adjoining areas”.

In a statement issued here on Monday, K-Electric announced that it had recently signed an agreement with China Machinery Engineering Corporation (CMEC) to establish a state-of-the-art 700MW IPP-based power project at Port Qasim. The project was formally announced at the Pakistan Trade and Investment Forum held alongside the second Belt and Road Forum in Beijing, the statement said.

Read: Imran asks Chinese entrepreneurs to shift industries to CPEC special zones

It said the project agreement and contracts were signed by K-Electric chief executive officer Moonis Alvi and CMEC chairman Zhang Chun in the presence of Adviser to the Prime Minister on Commerce and Industry Abdul Razak Dawood.

“I am sure that this is just one of a series of joint endeavours in the future that will translate into a win-win for shared prosperity in the region and beyond,” the statement quoted Mr Dawood as saying. “Stable electricity supply infrastructure is critical for the country’s sustainable progress, trade and industries and I urge all stakeholders to work together for its early completion to maximise the benefits to Karachi and Pakistan.”

The statement said the project was being developed under an IPP mode structure, with K-Electric as the single off-taker. KE holds equity share in this IPP, whereas CMEC is both an equity partner and EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) contractor. The power project already has an approved tariff from the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority, whereas the land for the project has been acquired in the Port Qasim area.

Sharing his thoughts after signing the agreement, the CMEC chairman described Pakistan as a land of opportunities with tremendous economic potential. “We are delighted to be a part of this landmark occasion today and are confident about the role of this power plant in addressing Karachi’s power needs and look forward to increased economic cooperation between China and Pakistan in future as well,” Mr Zhang said.

The K-Electric CEO said the current project was one more in a series of investments by KE to further strengthen the city’s power infrastructure and brought the power utility yet another step closer to the company’s long-term commitment to enabling Karachi to fulfil its economic potential.

“KE has invested more than $2.1 billion in infrastructure upgrades across the energy value chain over the last nine years and plans to invest $3bn over the next few years. We are committed to increasing power generation and upgrading Karachi’s transmission and distribution network,” Mr Alvi said.

The statement said the construction of the plant was expected to commence in the first quarter of the next fiscal year. Once the project came online, it would not only help meet the growing power demand of Karachi and its adjoining areas but also allow KE to diversify its fuel mix, it added.

[Riaz Haq]

#Dutch shipbuilder Damen launches first of 2 corvettes for #Pakistan #Navy. 
The 2,300-ton multirole corvettes are "state-of-the-art vessels" suited for anti-surface, anti-air, and #maritime #security operations. #pakistannavy #GwadarAttack | Jane's 360 https://www.janes.com/article/88644/damen-launches-first-of-two-cor...

The first of two corvettes on order for the Pakistan Navy (PN) has been launched at the facilities of Dutch shipbuilder Damen in Galati, Romania.

The service announced on its Facebook page that the 2,300-ton vessel, which had been previously described as an offshore patrol vessel (OPV), entered the water on 17 May in a ceremony held at the shipyard in Romania and attended by PN Vice Admiral Abdul Aleem, among others.

The contract for the two vessels was signed in June 2017, with the first corvette expected to enter service by the end of 2019, and the second one set to be delivered by mid-2020, according to the navy.

Vice Adm Aleem was quoted as saying during the ceremony that these platforms "will act as force multipliers in enhancing [the] navy's capability of safeguarding maritime frontiers and will offer more flexibility in the conduct of [the] Pakistan Navy's initiative of independent Regional Maritime Security Patrols in the Indian Ocean Region".

The multirole corvettes have been previously described by the PN as "state-of-the-art vessels" especially suited for anti-surface, anti-air, and maritime security operations.

Each of them features a helicopter pad to facilitate search-and-rescue missions, as well as surveillance and intelligence-gathering operations. No further details were provided about the systems or weapons set to be fitted onto the class.

[Riaz Haq]

Update: Turkey’s STM wins tender for Pakistani corvettes

https://www.janes.com/article/81568/update-turkey-s-stm-wins-tender...

Defence engineering firm Savunma Teknolojileri Mühendislik ve Ticaret (STM) and other Turkish companies have won a tender to provide four Ada (MILGEM)-class corvettes to the Pakistan Navy (PN).

“This will be largest single export [deal] in the history of the Turkish defence industry,” National Defence Minister Nurettin Canikli was quoted by Turkish state news service Anadolu Agency (AA) as saying during an official visit to Montenegro.

No details were provided about the value of the contract, which was signed on 5 July. The main contractor is the Military Plants and Shipyard Management Joint Stock Company (ASFAT AS), which is tied to the Turkish Ministry of National Defense.

Canikli said Ankara and Islamabad have agreed to build two of the warships at Turkey’s Istanbul Shipyard while the remaining two will be constructed in Pakistan’s southern port city of Karachi.

The Karachi-based newspaper The Express Tribune quoted the Pakistani Embassy in Ankara as saying in a statement that the contract includes a transfer of technology as well as a transfer of intellectual proprietary rights for the design of the Pakistani ships.

The announcement was made after Pakistan’s Karachi Shipyard & Engineering Works Limited (KSEW) signed a letter of intent (LOI) with STM in May 2017 for the construction of the vessels.

According to Jane's Fighting Ships , the Ada class has a fully-loaded displacement of 2,032 tonnes, a draught of 3.6 m, and a beam of 14.4 m.

Armament on the 99 m-long platforms includes a 76 mm naval gun, four (two twin) 324 mm torpedo tubes, eight (two quadruple) launchers for anti-ship missiles, and one RIM-116 close-in weapon system.

[Riaz Haq]

Great Game Moves to Sea: Tripolar Competition in #IndianOcean. The dynamics of intensifying competition — #military, #economic, #diplomatic — in #SouthAsia, mainly between #China, #India, #Pakistan, and #UnitedStates. #CPEC #pakistannavy @WarOnTheRocks https://warontherocks.com/2019/04/the-great-game-moves-to-sea-tripo...

Each state’s approach to the increasingly crowded Indian Ocean environs is informed by history, economic interests, and simple geography. Three significant divergences in the three countries’ frameworks are their perspectives on the Middle East, Pakistan’s regional role, and the balance between military and non-military foreign policy tools. Friction resulting from any of these divergences – what I call geo-strategic seams – could undermine the success of any one of these national strategies for the Indian Ocean arena. Ultimately, China’s more integrated strategy may give it an edge over America’s more disjointed approach and India’s more inward focus.

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India, sitting in the middle of the Indian Ocean, defines the region as extending from the African littoral to Southeast Asia. In 2015, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi put forward “Security and Growth for All in the Region,” or SAGAR, as an early, high-level articulation of the Indian vision. In 2017, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj specifically defined the region as extending from the Gulf of Aden in the west, through Chabahar Port in southwest Iran, and over to Burma and Thailand in the east. Notably, India does not view Pakistan as a part of this regional cooperation strategy, instead seeing it as an enemy. Similarly, India tries to isolate its long history of land border disputes with China from its wider policy towards the Indian Ocean, even though countering Beijing is one of New Delhi’s goals.

India’s focus on the Indian Ocean area is relatively new, dating back only to the 1990s. For most of the period since it gained independence in 1947, India has been preoccupied with land border threats posed by Pakistan and China, and has apparently lacked the ambition and capacity to exert influence beyond its immediate neighbors.

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Unlike with India’s strategy for the Indo-Pacific, however, Pakistan is a central element of China’s approach, linking the maritime and continental components of the Belt and Road Initiative. India, and to a lesser degree the United States, views Pakistan as a declining power that should be internationally isolated for its support of terrorism. In contrast, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor is one of the most important elements of the Belt and Road since it provides a direct land bridge from China to the Arabian Sea and allows trade access to support economic development in China’s restive west. Illustrating its priorities, China has promised some $60 billion to develop this corridor and has already made substantial investments in Pakistan focusing on energy and transport infrastructure, including the port of Gwadar in western Pakistan. While some doubt the viability of many of these projects, this investment clearly reflects Beijing’s view that Pakistan is essential to its regional strategy.

[Riaz Haq]

Pakistan seafood exports to China rise: Chinese fishing company


https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/478386-pakistani-seafood-exports-...

The exports of Pakistani seafood from Gwadar to Chinese cities through Urumqi, China’s Xinjiang autonomous region has increased manifold owing to robust demand, Chen Baoliang, chairman of the board of Xinjiang Yu-Fei International Fishing Company said on Thursday.

Yu-Fei Marine Technology of China (Gwadar) Company is one of the largest fishing companies in the Gwadar port of Pakistan, according to China.org.cn.


"Since the company was established in 2017, we have been exporting an increasing quantity of seafood back to China," said Chen.

In the last two years, Yu-Fei imported 1,000 tonnes of seafood and sold them to cities in the Chinese mainland.

Now it takes 34 hours for lobsters and groupers from Pakistan to arrive in Xinjiang through air transport, instead of 25 days.

"When I visited Gwadar in 2016, I found that it had high-quality seafood but lacked proper facilities to process them," Chen said.

He invested 500 million yuan (about 73 million U.S.dollars) to build fishing, processing, refrigerated warehouses and established one of the largest seafood processing centers in Gwadar.

Yu-Fei is among a growing list of companies that bank on robust domestic demand in China to import seafood from Gwadar and sell to customers in Urumqi and Karamay, both in Xinjiang, and other cities including Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen.

"As commercial relations expand, we will be able to create hundreds of more jobs for local Pakistanis and raise the income for local fishers," Chen said.

[Riaz Haq]

12 exotic beaches in #Pakistan. #Balochistan: Gaddani, Gwadar, Jiwani, Ormara, Kund Malir, Sonmiani, and Astola Islands. #Karachi (Sindh): Clifton, French, Hawke’s Bay and Sandspit. #ArabiaSea #beaches #tourism https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/482211-12-exotic-beaches-of-baloc...

The Press Information Department (PID) of the Government of Pakistan on its Twitter showed some beautiful glimpses of 12 exotic beaches on the long coastline from Gwadar to Karachi.

The tweet states: “Pakistan offers some breathtaking beaches with unparalleled serenity. These are 12 exotic beaches where one can gaze at mesmerising waves of Arabian Sea. #BeautifulPakistan”


Pakistan's southern coastline meets the Arabian Sea, running along the provinces of Sindh and Balochistan. There are various beaches on the coastline but the PID has selected 12 of them.

The names of these beaches in Balochistan are: Gaddani, Gwadar, Jiwani, Ormara, Kund Malir, Sonmiani, and Astola Islands.

The beaches in Karachi (Sindh) are Clifton, French, Hawke’s Bay and Sandspit.