Pakistan’s Board of Investment (BoI) says that a group led by Anvwar Asian Investments (AAI) of Oman is ready to invest $US 2.3bn in the project to build a new 1087km railway between Jacobabad and Gwadar, a port on the Arabian sea that is 70km from the border with Iran.
BOI federal minister, Mr Chaudhary Salik Hussain, has met with a delegation led by AAI chairman, Dr Anvwar Al Balushi, which also included Railway Constructions Pakistan (Railcop) CEO, Mr Syed Najam Saeed, and Mr Tauseef Zaman, CEO of BIL Pakistan.
According to BOI, AAI is ready to provide an immediate tranche of $US 500m for the Jacobabad – Gwadar railway, as well as financing and loans for other railway projects in Pakistan.
During a previous visit to Pakistan in January 2022, Al Balushi signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Railcop and BIL Pakistan.
A feasibility study later prepared by Railcop found that Pakistan’s existing railway infrastructure would be unable to accommodate the increase in traffic forecast when projects are completed under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) programme, part of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
CPEC aims to provide a rail connection between Gwadar and Xinjiang province in China.
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