Cash-strapped Pakistan to lease part of Karachi port to UAE for $220m

Much of the project’s development is scheduled for 2026.

Karachi:

United Arab Emirates (UAE)’s AD Ports Group signed a deal on Thursday to take over part of operations at Pakistan’s main Karachi terminal facility in a deal worth $220 million.

The deal is a shot in the arm for Pakistan, whose economy is on the brink of collapse and whose government desperately needs big foreign investment to help pay off its crippling debt.

AD Ports Group has formed a joint venture with another UAE company, Kaheel Terminals, to take over the berths of state-owned stevedore Karachi Port Trust (KPT).

The Port of Karachi, Pakistan’s oldest and busiest port, has 33 berths, four of which will be leased by the joint venture for the next 50 years under the UAE agreement.

“The joint venture will invest heavily in infrastructure and superstructure over the next 10 years,” said a statement from AD Group.

Plans include deepening berths to allow larger ships to dock, extending quay walls and increasing container storage area. As a result, the terminal will be able to handle ships capable of carrying up to 8,500 containers, increasing throughput from 750,000 to 1 million containers per year, the statement said.

Most of the development is planned for 2026.

The UAE makes major contributions to Pakistan’s economy in the form of grants, loans and direct investments, having previously bailed out a government that had been on the brink of defaulting on its debt for months.

(Apart from the title, this story was not edited by NDTV staff and was published via a syndicate.)