Ans: Importance of Seaports of Pakistan:
Pakistan’s seaports hold a position of great importance. Nearly all of
Pakistan’s trade is carried out through sea-routes. For this purpose the oldest
seaport in Pakistan is in Karachi which is of international standard. Here facilities
are available for the loading and unloading of trade goods from ships and oil
tankers. The increasing national requirements led to the construction of Bin Qasim
Port in the east of Karachi. In the first stage 8 berths were built here to
accommodate ships. Bin Qasim Port is located near Pakistan steel mill. Therefore it
is being used for the import of goods for large scale factories and raw iron.
On Balochistan’s coast line a seaport has been built with modern facilities in
Gwadar, with the help of China. For purposes of trade, ships hold great importance
along with facilities provided by seaports. Ships are under the responsibility of
Pakistan National Shipping Corporation. To carry trade goods to foreign countries,
Pakistan has many cargo ships. These are not very big but can travel to distant sea
routes easily. These ships transport goods to Japanese and Chinese seaports in the
East, and to Muslim countries, European countries, Britain and American seaports
in the west. Then they transport the goods from these countries to Pakistan and
earn huge profits.
Importance of Dry-Ports of Pakistan:
Besides them, many dry-ports under private-sector were also established,
two of them, Sialkot dry-port (1984) and Faisalabad dry-port (1994) are important.
Because of these dry-ports, positive changes have occurred which increased the
trade volume of the country.