By Abid Chaudhry TWA ______ Minister for Maritime Affairs Qaiser Ahmed Shaikh signed this MOU on the behalf of 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 Jacob Linulf presented the signed document of 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 that we are extremely thankful to the Government of Denmark on this remarkable breakthrough in maritime sector.

He further added that as results of this memorandum ministry can integrated logistics hubs in all ports, establish 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 that Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Denmark’s Government was continuously working from last six months to reach at fruitful conclusion. The Danish Ambassador to Pakistan Jakob Linulf also thanked to Government of Pakistan and Minister for Maritime Affairs on this progress. Both sides are willing to strengthen ties for the growth of maritime sector.