China-donated seawater desalination plant to resolve water shortage in Pakistan's Gwadar

GWADAR, Pakistan -- The China-donated seawater desalination plant will resolve the water shortage in Gwadar district of Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan province, which has been the biggest problem in the area for many years, Pakistani Prime Minister Anwar-ul-Haq Kakar has said.

The water shortage has been the largest hurdle in the development of Gwadar district, the prime minister said on Monday while addressing the inauguration ceremony of the China-aided desalination project and upgrade of the Pak-China Friendship Hospital in Gwadar.

He said there were many problems in the area related to the lack of drinking water, adding that Gwadar is of central importance to Balochistan.

The desalination plant will provide 5,000 tons per day of potable water.

Additionally, the China-donated Pak-China Friendship Hospital has been upgraded from having 50 beds to 150 beds with necessary medical equipment, while the hospital has emergency department, outpatient department, inpatient department, medical technology department, and administration and supporting system.

Pakistan and China should work together to build Gwadar into a high-quality port, regional trade center and connectivity hub, the prime minister added.

On the occasion, Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Jiang Zaidong said that China and Pakistan are all-weather strategic cooperative partners.

Both countries have actively promoted the construction of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and worked hard to bring the benefits of the CPEC development to all the people of Pakistan, the ambassador said, adding that the Gwadar port has made great progress in its construction and operation as a leading project of the CPEC.

China is willing to work with Pakistan to coordinate on security and development and advance the high-quality construction of the CPEC, the Chinese envoy said.

Launched in 2013, the CPEC, a flagship project of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative, is a corridor linking the Gwadar port in southwestern Pakistan with Kashgar in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, which highlights energy, transport and industrial cooperation.