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