Federal Minister for Maritime Affairs, Senator Faisal Ali Subzwari announced to provide 2000 motor boat engines for Rs. 500 million along with a floating jetty at the cost of Rs. 267 million to the fishermen in Gwadar by the end of this year.
The honourable Minister attended the World Ocean Day Event organized by the Ministry of Maritime Affairs as the Chief Guest in Karachi.
Ministry of Maritime Affairs celebrated World Ocean Day by conducting a consultative workshop organized by the World Bank (WB) on the ‘Blue Economy Development Roadmap’ in collaboration with the Ministry today in Karachi.
The Minister while speaking highlighted the Development of Blue Economy (BE) Policy and roadmap as a special agenda of the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and appreciated the efforts of WB for conducting a detailed study on the Blue Economy that will surely be beneficial for policy making in future.
While addressing, he stated that the purpose of the event is to create awareness in the people of Pakistan about the potential of our ocean as an important asset for sustainable economic growth as well as to take collective action to advance the sustainable utilization of our ocean.
The Minister reiterated that the Federal Government and Ministry of Maritime Affairs are and will remain committed and would be more active, efficient and available for all the stakeholders associated with the Blue Economy of Pakistan.
The Minister announced at the event that “For the people of Gwadar, we have promised some 2000 fisherman to provide the motor boat engines for Rs. 500m for effective fishing. We are also going to provide them with a floating jetty at the cost of Rs. 267m by the end of this year.”
The Minister also stressed the need for a sector like Blue Economy to get more explored and also assured that in future, BE development would be a special agenda of the Ministry.
Furthermore, he assured working in close coordination with the Government of Sindh to address the issues related to fisheries and maritime sector development.
Additional Secretary Maritime Affairs, Mr. Asad Rafi Chandna also stressed taking urgent and immediate actions in reducing marine pollution, increasing seafood exports, and enhancing coastal tourism to flourish the blue economy of Pakistan.
After the end of the event, Minister also attended the Q & A session of the electronic and print media journalists and aptly responded to all the questions raised regarding the Blue Economy, Marine Pollution and other issues of Karachi.
The Chairman Karachi Port Trust (KPT), Mr. Syedain Raza Zaidi, Chairman Port Qasim Authority (PQA), Rear Admiral (R) Syed Hasan Nasir Shah HI(M), Chairman Pakistan National Shipping Corporation (PNSC), Mr. Rizwan Ahmed, MD KoHFA, Principal Officer Mercantile Marine Department (MMD), Pakistan Marine Academy (PMA), GM Ops KPT – Rear Admiral Zubair Shafique, GM Tech KPT – Rear Admiral Shahid, DG Port Qasim – R Adm Javed Iqbal, GM Engineering KPT – R Admiral Shahid, Country Director World Bank, and eminent and well-informed participants also graced the occasion with their presence.
The event was followed by a technical consultative workshop organized by the WB in which Joint Secretary Maritime Affairs – Mr. Kamran Ansari presented his views on blue economy emerging trends and coordinated on behalf of the Ministry of Maritime Affairs.
