QUETTA:Chief Minister Balochistan, Mir Abdul Quddus Bizenjo, has accorded approval to give the status of “Special Economic District” to district Gwadar, said a statement issued by the Chief Minister’s Secretariat here on Tuesday.

A summary initiated by Planning and Development Department, Government of Balochistan to give Gwadar the status of special economic district had been approved by the Chief Minister Balochistan, Mir Abdul Quddus Bizenjo.

It is worth mentioning that for development of Gwadar city, boosting activities in Gwadar Deep Sea Port and promotion of tourism, it was essential to give the status of Special Economic District to Gwadar, so that conducive environment could be provided to the investors in the port city of Balochistan province.

Gwadar is a port city with located on the southwestern coast of Balochistan in Pakistan. The city is located on the shores of the Arabian Sea opposite Oman. It is about 120 km southwest of Turbat, while the sister port city of Chabahar in Iran's Sistan and Balochistan province is about 170 km to the west of Gwadar. On 2 April 2021, Gwadar was declared the capital of the South Balochistan region.

In April 2015, Pakistan and China announced their intention to develop the $46 billion China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which in turn forms part of China's ambitious One Belt, One Road. Gwadar features heavily in CPEC, and is also envisaged to be the link between the One Belt, One Road and Maritime Silk Road project.

$1.153 billion worth of infrastructure projects will be invested into the city as part of CPEC, with the aim of linking northern Pakistan and western China to the deep water seaport. The city will also be the site of a floating liquefied natural gas facility that will be built as part of the larger $2.5 billion Gwadar–Nawabshah segment of the Iran–Pakistan gas pipeline project.

In addition to investments directly under the aegis of CPEC in Gwadar city, the China Overseas Port Holding Company in June 2016 began construction on the $2 billion Gwadar Special Economic Zone,] which is being modelled on the lines of the special economic zones of China. In September 2016 the Gwadar Development Authority published a request for tenders for the preparation of expropriation and resettlement of Old Town Gwadar.