Pakistan-China body discusses progress of CPEC projects

BEIJING: The youth of Gwadar which accounts for 50% of the city’s population is going to be a beneficiary of high-paid jobs in Pakistan and global market as Pakistan-China Technical and Vocational Institute is all set to function by recruiting the first batch of Gwadar students in February next year.

The development will boost employment for Gwadar’s youth at the city’s port, export-oriented industries, Gwadar Free Zone and enterprises to be set up under Gwadar’s master plan. According to the master plan, the coastal city will create 1.2 million jobs for skilled workers and professionals with an economic output exceeding $30 billion.

Given that around 80% of the city’s population works in fish-catching and fisheries related occupations, the institute will impart the youth with the professional knowledge of modern fishing practices and pre-post handling of fish in the boat and harbor.

Moreover, it will teach the population advanced fish net knitting, fish preservation, ship making, food preservation, business techniques and awareness of Pakistani and Chinese law for business.

The first batch of about 400 students belonging to poor-strata of Gwadar will secure its admission free of cost in Pakistan-China Technical and Vocational Institute.

The institute was built in October 2021 under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor through Chinese aid at a cost of 83 million yuan and with special efforts of Gwadar Port Authority (GPA) Chairman Naseer Ahmed Kashani and China Overseas Port Holding Company Chairman Zhang Baozhong.

The youth of Gwadar (male and female) would prove to be an agent of change for transformation of a small fishing town into a modern smart city, said Pakistan-China Technical and Vocational Institute Project Director Sohail Asghar in an interview.

He added that the technical and professional education, hostel and other allied facilities would be offered free of cost.

He revealed that during a three-year course, students would spend one year in Pakistan-China Technical and Vocational Institute and one and a half years in Shandong Institute of Commercial Technology in China.

Later, the candidates will learn practical experience as internees in course related industries in China, he added.

With high-tech professional education and skills development, the demand for Gwadar’s youth will soar in the native city and foreign companies in China and around the globe.

He added that Gwadar would soon become an economic and logistics hub.

“Shandong Institute of Commercial Technology has also agreed to design the curriculum in line with requirements of the industries,” he said. “It also consented to bear operational cost of the institute for three years for boarding and lodging expenses of Chinese faculty members.”

The contract agreement with the Shandong institute has been submitted to the Ministry of Maritime Affairs for approval, he added.

Besides construction work, the allied work at Pakistan-China Technical and Vocational Institute is also in progress at a cost of Rs168.53 million. Out of this, Rs60 million has been consumed while the remaining Rs107 million is pending for approval, he mentioned.

GPA chairman Naseer Ahmed Kashani said that Pakistan-China Technical and Vocational Institute is the first development work in Balochistan under CPEC and it has been completed three months ahead of schedule. Completed during the pandemic, the institute will produce skilled human resources for port cities, he added.

China Overseas Port Holding Company Chairman Zhang Boazhong said that “young people of Gwadar are the main and fundamental stakeholders of the port city.”

He added that their participation in operation and management of the deep-sea port, industrial and commercial businesses and in urbanisation processes would play a vital role in long-term developmental initiatives.

The Pakistan-China Technical and Vocational Institute aimed at shaping and enhancing the skills of active population of Gwadar in a bid to enable them to participate in the growth of the port city.

Groundbreaking of Pakistan-China Technical and Vocational Institute was held on December 16, 2019. During construction, it generated more than 1,000 jobs for locals.