‘China to share Gwadar revenues’

BEIJING: The Chinese company involved in developing the Gwadar Port and the Gwadar Free Zone has said it has fully considered the interests of Pakistani side and has also agreed to share revenues from those projects although it wasn’t originally required to do so.

An employee from the China Overseas Ports Holding Co (COPHC) told the Chinese newspaper ‘Global Times’ that the company had agreed to turn over nine percent of the revenues from the Gwadar Port, as well as 15 percent of the revenues from the Gwadar Free Zone to the Pakistani side.

The employee, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, was responding to media reports that 91 percent of the revenues from the Gwadar Port, which is part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) belong to China, and the Gwadar Port Authority would only get nine percent for the next 40 years.

The COPHC employee said common international rules regarding build-operate-transfer (BOT) projects do not require the operator to share any revenue from the projects during the investment and operation period with the eventual owner. "Since taking over the command of the Gwadar Port and Gwadar Free Zone, COPHC has invested $270 million as of now.”