KARACHI: Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah on Thursday said that the maritime sector required huge amounts of finances and technical expertise to building, operating, and making the sector economically viable and profitable.

He said this while speaking at the 3rd Steering Committee Meeting of the Pakistan International Maritime Exhibition and Conference (PIMEC) 2023 here at CM House.

The meeting was attended by provincial ministers Syed Sardar Shah, Jam Ikram, Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho, Sharjeel Memon, chief secretary Sohail Rajput, Deputy Chief of Naval Staff (operation) Rear Admiral Mohammad Faisal Abbasi, COMCOAST Rear Admiral Raja Rab Nawaz, COMKAR Rear Admiral Mian Zakir Ullah Jan, provincial secretaries, IG Police Ghulam Nabi Memon, senior officers of Pak Navy and provincial government officials.

The PIMEC 2023, an initiative of the Pakistan Navy being organised under the patronage of the Ministry of Maritime Affairs in order to jump-start development in the maritime sector, is scheduled to be held from February 10-12.

The event will provide opportunities to maritime industry both in the public and private sectors to display products and develop business relationships.

Mr Shah said that the maritime sector was both financially and technologically intensive and needed significant capital for building, operating, and making it economically profitable. “Once that investment has been made and set-up is in place, it also requires highly skilled manpower, which regretfully we just do not have in sufficient numbers at this point in time,” he said and added it would not be out of context to say that Pakistan was suffering from “sea blindness” and that’s why the motto of PIMEC has been very aptly kept as ‘Sea the Future’.

Murad Ali Shah said that PIMEC should provide a foundation to bring together stakeholders from diverse maritime industries such as aquaculture, which was an environmental-friendly me-thod of farming in water.

He added that a large chunk of the coastal population was associated with fisheries; however, this sector has a lot of export potential yet to be exploited.

Mr Shah said that Pakistani fishing boats lacked modern equipment and techniques for fishing and storage.

“PIMEC can be a platform for boat construction and associated industries to modernise fishing boats,” he said and added that Pakistan was blessed with a large ship-breaking yard of Gadani and if utilised to its full potential, it has the capacity to generate millions of dollars each year.

The CM said that coastal tourism was almost a neglected field and was required to be tapped because tourists were attracted by the climate, biodiversity as well as long sandy beaches of South Asia.

Mr Shah said that although Gwadar port’s development was in progress, the same was required to be coupled with maritime industries to accrue maximum benefits and these gaps could be bridged through an effective platform like PIMEC.

Murad Ali Shah added that there was economics at play behind the optimism that supported the development of the maritime economy in Pakistan.

“Being a developing country with untapped marine economic resou-rces, Pakistan has a huge economical edge,” he said and added that this was because there would not be any diminishing marginal returns here till the capital accumulation reached its optimum point, therefore an initiative of the Pakistan Navy like PIMEC was highly praiseworthy.

The CM directed the Karachi police and deputy commissioners concerned and civic agencies to ensure necessary arrangements for the exhibition and the conference scheduled to be held from February 10-12, 2023.

Published in Dawn, January 20th, 2023