Leaders are touting development of Pakistan's first deep-sea port at Gwadar as a potentially potent engine for trade and other economic growth in the region, reported UPI.
Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz spoke at a ceremony marking the start-up of the nation's first desalination plant financed entirely from private sources. He added the new deep-water port will eventually be linked to Iran, the Pakistan Dawn newspaper reported.
Aziz acknowledged that some of his countrymen are concerned that the port expansion project, which is to start next month, will draw people from other countries, changing Gwadar's demographics.
Pakistan began technical and financial studies for the Gwadar port in 1993.
Source: UPI