Why Reforms in Pakistan's Maritime Sector are Imperative? Vice Admiral (R) Iftikhar Rao

ARY NEWS

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00:00Ladies and gentlemen, there has been a department in Pakistan that has been neglected and not paid much attention to.

00:08And especially when we saw around the world that a lot of attention has been paid to the maritime department,

00:13this has not been the case in Pakistan.

00:15And the reason for this may also be that the focus of the government has been on some other side or there has been no awareness in this regard.

00:21If we talk about the sea, then you see that 70% of the land is covered by water.

00:27And after that, you see that a lot of focus is being put on this all over the world.

00:33So in Pakistan, we saw that from the side of the Prime Minister of Pakistan,

00:36now this initiative has been taken of the maritime department of Bahawali.

00:39Okay, the first income in this was around 2,600 billion, but now it is being said that a goal has been set to take it up to 9,000 billion.

00:48There are many departments in which work can be done.

00:51And of course, there are many departments that will be revamped, they will be made better, the authorities will be improved.

01:01Then it is that the ports of Pakistan, when the Gwadar port was being built, it was being said that when this port is built,

01:08then the big ports of the world will be able to give them a tough time.

01:12Comparison was made with Iran that when the Gwadar port will be built in Pakistan,

01:15then it will be quite challenging for Chabahar to manage.

01:19But none of our ports are currently included in the top 60 ports of the world.

01:24So what improvements can be made with these steps?

01:27And what do we know about the maritime department?

01:29Let's talk about this.

01:30We have with us in the studio, Vice Admiral Iftikhar Rao.

01:33Thank you so much, sir, for your time.

01:35First of all, tell me, before I talk about this initiative,

01:38do we have an understanding of what this maritime department is?

01:44Or do we often confuse it with Pakistan Navy? What happens?

01:49The maritime sector, as you said, is more than 70% of the world's water and sea.

01:55And we have never been aware of it.

01:59The basic reason for this, in my opinion, is that we are basically land-oriented people, the whole country.

02:07Most of the population of our country may not have even seen the sea.

02:13So the availability of the sea and other information about the sea,

02:16Unless they went to Karachi or Gwadar.

02:18There are very few people there.

02:20So that's why there are reasons for not being aware of it.

02:24Secondly, as they say, whatever activity is happening in the sea is very far from here.

02:33So that activity is neither seen nor is its interest developed.

02:37But after saying that, but along with that,

02:42Its importance does not decrease because of what it says.

02:45In the world, the realization of its utility is increasing day by day.

02:51Until 1984, the limitations that have been given to the whole world,

02:58These things have been formalized in the world since 1984.

03:05Then this activity has started to increase.

03:07And this blue economy is mentioned everywhere.

03:09Blue economy is basically said because the sea is more than 70% of the world's sea.

03:14And it is blue.

03:16So all the economies related to the sea are generally called the blue economy.

03:22But one thing is that what I understand is,

03:24For example, the ship breaking yards were said to be the leading ship breaking yards until the 1980s.

03:31Number one shipyard.

03:33So now there is no name.

03:35I mean, how did we derail this?

03:37Yes, this is basically awareness.

03:41As far as ship breaking is concerned, this is also very important.

03:46You are right that we were the number one ship breaking yard until 1980.

03:51There were more ships than in the world.

03:54After that, many of our policies, custom policies, and other policies,

03:59And the facilities there,

04:01Gradually, attention was reduced to it and others got more.

04:05As I said in the whole world, since the awareness of the blue economy,

04:09The culture of environment and safety has developed a lot.

04:13There are many international regulations that need to be followed.

04:18Otherwise, the international ships will not come here for breaking.

04:22And you must have heard about it.

04:24The Hong Kong Convention is its latest part.

04:27Which was adopted in 2009.

04:29But two years ago, when Bangladesh and a few other countries did it,

04:34Now it has become effective.

04:36And its effectiveness is two years later.

04:38So it will be effective in July this year.

04:41If we can't fully prepare for it by July,

04:44Then all those breaking yards,

04:46Those who can do it by then,

04:48The ships will come to them.

04:50The rest of the international ships will come very little.

04:54Those who do not follow international rules will come.

04:57So this is a very big challenge for us.

05:00The Hong Kong Convention was adopted by Pakistan in December 2023.

05:07Sir, I also wanted to know one thing.

05:09Our coastline is very big.

05:11And you see that the maritime sector is underperforming.

05:16Like I said in the beginning of Gwadar port,

05:19It had a lot of potential to challenge the ports here and there.

05:23But as of now it could not be done.

05:25Now initiatives are present in this regard.

05:27The thing is that in the Gwadar port sector,

05:32I would like to say that there are many facets of the maritime sector.

05:37There is one for ports,

05:39There is another for shipping,

05:41There is another for ports,

05:43There is another for shipping,

05:45We will talk about PNC later.

05:47There is another for ship building,

05:49There is another for ship breaking,

05:51There is another for fisheries,

05:53And there are many other things.

05:55So now if we talk about the Gwadar port,

05:59The location of Gwadar port is very good.

06:03That is why it is very good.

06:05The location of our entire coastline is very good.

06:07Our coastline is 1000 km long.

06:09And its location is right on the mouth of the Gulf of Oman.

06:17That is, all the traffic that runs from there,

06:19All these big trenches,

06:21All the maritime activity,

06:23All that happens in front of our coastline.

06:25Naturally, it is said that it is very easy for ships to be anchored.

06:29It is easy.

06:31I have been in Gwadar for a long time.

06:35There are many natural benefits of Gwadar.

06:39You must have seen it in the map.

06:41It is called Hammerhead.

06:43Hammerhead gives protection.

06:45It gives protection.

06:47The monsoon is very strong in our area.

06:49The monsoon winds run southwest.

06:51Accordingly, waves form and affect the entire coastline.

06:57Hammerhead gives protection.

06:59That is why the harbor is in a protected zone.

07:03And the location is right on the mouth of the Gulf of Oman.

07:07That is why it is very important.

07:09But in my opinion, Gwadar port is not very effective yet.

07:15It is a problem of connectivity.

07:19Where will the ship go?

07:23And how will it go?

07:25Connectivity is a very big problem.

07:27Security is also an issue.

07:29Connectivity is that when goods come to the ports,

07:33After clearing the ports,

07:35Then it has to go to the industry or wherever it has to be used.

07:39So what are the means from the port to there?

07:43The means of transportation in the world,

07:45The means of transportation in the world,

07:47One is the sea or canal.

07:49The water is also the cheapest.

07:53And it is also better for the environment.

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