Islamabad (PR) Minister for Maritime Affairs Qaiser Ahmed Shaikh signed this MOU on behalf of the Government of Pakistan and Denmark’s Minister for Industry, Business and Financial Affairs H.E Morten Bodskov from the Danish Government. Denmark’s Ambassador to Pakistan H.E Jacob Linulf presented the signed document of the Danish Minister in this ceremony. After this MOU, Maersk (Danish Shipping Company) is ready to invest almost 2 billion dollars in Pakistan’s maritime sector. Finance Minister Mohammad Aurangzeb, Minister for Commerce Jam Kamal, Minister for Industries Rana Tanveer, Director General SIFC Maj Gen Asad-ur-Rehman, Additional Secretary Maritime Affairs Umar Zafar Sheikh and Secretary SIFC Jameel Qureshi were also present in this MOU signing ceremony.

On this occasion, Federal Minister Qaiser Ahmed Sheikh said, we are extremely thankful to the Government of Denmark for this remarkable maritime sector breakthrough. He further added that as a result of this memorandum, the ministry can integrate logistics hubs in all ports, establish a deep water container terminal in Karachi, create International Maritime Organization (IMO) and European Union (EU)-compliant ship recycling facilities in Gaddani, assist Pakistan Marine Academy to upgrade curriculum and equipment and provide continuous technical and training assistance to Pakistani ports.

The Maritime Minister Qaiser Ahmed Sheikh also highlighted the importance of Maersk Company in Pakistan’s shipping industry. He said that Maersk has the highest market share of 20% for containerized imports and exports in Pakistan. Apart from that, the global market capital of this company is around 175 billion Danish Krone. He further said, the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Denmark’s Government have continuously worked for the last six months to reach a fruitful conclusion. The Danish Ambassador to Pakistan H.E Jakob Linulf also thanked the Government of Pakistan and the Minister for Maritime Affairs for this progress. Both sides are willing to strengthen ties for the growth of the maritime sector.