Government of Pakistan decided to hold negotiations with UAE Abu Dhabi Ports for Karachi Port Trust
Channel: Mediatrack Pakistan
Date: 2023-06-22

ISLAMABAD:
A body of Pakistan’s federal cabinet on Tuesday endorsed a five-year framework agreement for handing over four berths of the Karachi port terminal to the government of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). This development paves the way for signing a commercial deal.

“The Cabinet Committee on Intergovernmental Commercial Transactions (CCoIGCT) recommended the draft framework agreement to the federal cabinet for approval,” said the Ministry of Finance.

The intergovernmental framework agreement has been finalised to create favourable conditions for the operations, maintenance, upgrading, investment, development, and advancement of the container terminal at Berths 6 to 9, East Wharf, Karachi Port Trust.

Under the chairmanship of Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, the cabinet committee met for the second consecutive day to explore avenues for raising funds after a pending deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Earlier, a committee set up by Dar finalised the framework agreement at an unusually fast pace in the public sector. The committee held a meeting attended by the CEO of the Abu Dhabi Port, Abdul Aziz AlBalooshi, and the Advisor to Sheikh Ahmad Al Makhtoom, Mustafa Ahmad.

Pakistan aims to reach a deal to hand over the terminals to Abu Dhabi Ports (ADP), a subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Ports Group. The UAE government expressed interest in acquiring the Karachi port terminals, which were under the administrative control of the Pakistan International Containers Terminals (PICT) last year.

The finance ministry stated that the CCoIGCT considered a summary of the Ministry of Maritime Affairs regarding the framework agreement between the governments of the UAE and Pakistan, aiming to further strengthen relations between the two countries in the maritime sector.