GWADAR, Pakistan, Dec. 16 (Xinhua) — Construction of a China-donated hospital and a vocation training institute commenced here on Monday with an aim to further improve people’s livelihood and employment in this port city.
The China Aid Technical & Vocational Institute and 150-bed China Aid Hospital are part of the port project.
Finance Minister of Balochistan Zahoor Ahmad Buledi expressed thanks to the Chinese government and people for bringing the social projects, which will benefit Gwadar and the whole region by developing human resources through technical education and health care facilities.
“The two projects show that the Chinese and Pakistani governments are not only working to develop Gwadar port and the city but for the welfare of the people also,” said the minister in a ceremony held here, adding that the technical and vocational institute would produce a well-trained workforce for different projects in Gwadar and will improve locals’ life standard by providing them with proper and regular jobs.
In March 2019, the Chinese and Pakistani sides signed memorandums of understanding regarding the two projects during Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan’s visit to Gwadar for the groundbreaking of the China-funded new Gwadar international airport.
Chairman of the China Overseas Ports Holding Company Pakistan, the operator of Gwadar Port, Zhang Baozhong told the participants in the ceremony that people in Gwadar have been suffering a lot due to the absence of a proper hospital and vocational and technical college.
“We always try to increase local employment, but sometimes, our efforts face hurdles due to lack of education and technical training of the local population,” said Zhang, hoping that China Aid education project will increase the employment chances for the local people.
Local people told Xinhua that development and operationalization of Gwadar port has boosted local business activities and several initiatives related to cleanliness, water desalination, education and a basic health unit by China have eased their lives.
On the occasion, Chairman of the Gwadar Port Authority Naseer Khan Kashani said around 800 students will be trained annually in multiple disciplines in the institute and finally, they would be inducted in different projects at the port and the free zones.
Kashani termed the China Aid hospital as a great addition to several other ongoing development projects in Gwadar, saying that once it is completed, the people from Gwadar and its adjoining areas will have no need to travel a long way to other cities for treatment.
“With continuous support from China, Gwadar’s speedy and exemplary development under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor has already become a role model for Pakistan and also for the region and now its social welfare projects are benefiting locals directly,” said Kashani.
Shahzad Ahmad, a student of eighth grade at China-donated primary school in Faqeer Colony in Gwadar expressed happiness over the new technical and vocational institute and told Xinhua that if he would have a chance to get education from the new institute after completing his school, it would change his family’s fate.
“My father, who works as a laborer, advised me to study hard so that I can get admission to the new institute. He said if I get a degree from there, I would get a job at Gwadar port or any other project in the city,” said the 13-year-old student who along with his friends came to see the groundbreaking.
