Pakistan and Denmark on Wednesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for huge investment and restructuring in Pakistan’s maritime sector.

The MoU was signed by the Minister for Maritime Affairs Qaiser Ahmed Shaikh on behalf of Government of Pakistan and Denmark’s Minister for Industry, Business and Financial Affairs Morten Bodskov from the Danish Government.

Denmark’s Ambassador to Pakistan Jacob Linulf presented the signed document of Danish Minister in the signing ceremony. After this MoU, Maersk (Danish Shipping Company) is ready to invest almost two-billion dollars in Pakistan’s maritime sector, according to an official statement released here on Wednesday.

Finance Minister Mohammad Aurangzeb, Minister for Commerce Jam Kamal, Minister for Industries Rana Tanveer, Director General Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) Maj Gen Asad-ur-Rehman, Additional Secretary Maritime Affairs Umar Zafar Sheikh and Secretary SIFC Jameel Qureshi were also present in the MoU signing ceremony.

On this occasion, Federal Minister Qaiser Ahmed Sheikh thanked the Government of Denmark on this remarkable breakthrough in the maritime sector.

He said after this MoU, the Maritime Affairs Ministry can integrate 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.

He also highlighted the importance of Maersk Company in Pakistan’s shipping industry. He said 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. The Minister further said the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Denmark’s Government were continuously working from last six months to reach at a fruitful conclusion.

The Danish Ambassador to Pakistan Jakob Linulf also thanked the Government of Pakistan and Minister for Maritime Affairs on this progress. Both sides are willing to strengthen ties for the growth of maritime sector.