The Londoner

By Khalid Hasan WASHINGTON: The Gwadar deep sea port will only reach its full potential if there is peace and stability in the region, Ambassador Mahmud Ali Durrani told a meeting here on Wednesday evening. Addressing the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute of the Johns Hopkins University, Durrani said with the network of modern highways being built interlinking the region, Pakistan will become a trade and energy corridor bringing development and prosperity to not only the central Asia republics, but also to Iran, Afghanistan and India He could foresee a future where Indian goods will go Afghanistan and all the way beyond through Pakistan and Iranian gas could flow to India through Pakistan. The potential of the project could be gleaned from the fact that the Singapore Port Authority had signed on to manage Gwadar for the next 40 years. Pasni: The next port to be developed by Pakistan, he added, would be Pasni, which would bring the number of the country’s outlets to sea to four.

Friday, 15 February 2008 Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the cabinet, which is scheduled to meet on Friday with caretaker Prime Minister Mohammedmian Soomro in the chair, is likely to approve a package of incentives for Export Processing Zone (EPZ) top of which would be grant of 20 years tax holiday. In September last, the ECC under the chairmanship of former prime minister Shaukat Aziz did not approve a similar proposal rather directed the sponsoring ministry ie Industries Ministry to redraft special incentives for the investors interested in setting up industrial units at EPZ of Gwadar. The sources said, Industries Ministry has now proposed to the ECC that 20-year income tax exemption may be granted as was given to the Gwadar Port developers despite disagreement by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) which supports grant of such incentive for not more than five years. The sources said 1,000 acres of land has already been leased out free of cost, adding that incentives

'Pakistan Times' Wire Service GWADAR: The very first cargo ship carrying wheat will be anchored at Gwadar Port on March 15 following the installation of gantry cranes at the port. Caretaker Minister for Shipping and Ports, Faheem Ansari said that the very first ship carrying 50 thousand tonens of wheat will be anchored at Gwadar Port on March 15. The largest deep water port is being operational after one year of its inauguration. Initially the port will be used as captive cargo or trans-shipment purpose only. The port will be put to its optimum use by trade through routes leading to China and Middle East after building of road and railway network●

Friday, 29 February 2008 Caretaker Minister for Defence Salim Abbas Jilani Wednesday said the Gwadar Airport project would be completed by August 2010 at a cost of Rs 7,885 million. In a written reply to question raised by Muhammad Ismail Buledi in the Senate, he said after the completion of planning and designing process the physical execution of Gwadar Airport project is scheduled to start in March this year. To another question, he said PIA has implemented nominal fuel surcharge keeping in view continuous increase in fuel prices and operational cost due to inflationary pressure. The Minister said PIA has implemented Revenue Management System from June 2007 to provide a competitive pricing structure to its customers and optimize the revenue generation opportunities by effective demand management. Under the system, he said the pricing structure provides extremely competitive fares in various nested classes in the low season and gradually increases the fare levels in line wi

By Zafar Bhutta ISLAMABAD: Energy Task Force of Planning Commission decided to establish oil terminal worth over Rs 2 billion at proposed Gwadar Oil City and has set a deadline for finalising the agreement for setting up of LNG Terminal at Port Qasim by April 15, 2008, sources told the Daily Times on Wednesday. The Task Force while reviewing the CNG sector situation recommended discouraging new applications for setting up of CNG stations and directed the authorities concerned to ensure the gas availability to the operational CNG stations across the country. Sources said that Task Force backed the idea that new CNG stations should not be set up during the gas deficit scenario. The Task Force headed by Deputy Chairman Planning Commission Dr Akram Sheikh met here to review the energy conservation situation. Secretary water and Power Ismail Qureshi, secretary Petroleum Farrukh Qayum and other concerned officials, attended the meeting. Sources said that The Task Force also directe

March 2, 2008 By ARIC CHEN IT was a balmy evening in Acapulco , and up and down the town’s main drag, the college party crowd was again on its nightly pub crawl, belting out one too many Jimmy Buffett tunes and guzzling a few too many Coronas. Nearby, the famous La Quebrada cliff divers had finished the evening’s last show, sending moms and dads to Planet Hollywood to keep their antsy kids distracted, as two hulking cruise ships sat towering on the waterfront. But on the other side of Acapulco Bay, perched high above the tourism mayhem, a stark wood-and-glass pavilion offered an escape hatch from the city’s clichés. Inside, a sparkling white restaurant opened up like a giant flashbulb onto the glittering coastline beyond, with house music throbbing to the clinking of wineglasses and the clattering of stilettos on polished concrete floors. A crowd of young Mexicans in open-collar Gucci shirts and fluttering Pucci dresses circulated about, perhaps hoping to catch a glimpse of the a

March 2, 2008 By JOE BIDEN THE next president will have to rally America and the world to “fight them over there unless we want to fight them over here.” The “over there” is not, as President Bush has claimed, Iraq, but rather the border of Afghanistan and Pakistan. That is where those who attacked us on 9/11 came from, where the attacks in Europe since originated and where Al Qaeda is regrouping. It is the real central front in the war on terrorism. Afghanistan is slipping toward failure. The Taliban is back, violence is up, drug production is booming and the Afghans are losing faith in their government. All the legs of our strategy — security, counternarcotics efforts, reconstruction and governance — have gone wobbly. If we should have had a surge anywhere, it is Afghanistan. And instead of eradicating poppy crops, which forces many farmers to turn to the Taliban, we should go after drug kingpins. We also need to make good on President Bush’s pledge for a Marshall Plan for