Govt sets condition to share Gwadar deal.

Byline: Shahbaz Rana

ISLAMABAD -- The Ministry of Maritime Affairs on Thursday refused to share the Gwadar Port concession agreement with parliament, citing a confidentiality clause - a move that raised more questions in the minds of senators about transparency of the deal.

The maritime affairs secretary did not share the Gwadar Port and free zone concession agreement with the Senate Standing Committee on Finance, which directed it twice to produce the key document.

Committee proceedings also disclosed that the government had proposed changes to the tax regime for charitable organisations, under pressure from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government has also allowed existing construction projects to get benefit of Prime Minister Imran Khan's second tax amnesty scheme.

'The 2007 and 2013 concession and novation agreements cannot be shared, as there is a confidentiality clause in the agreement,' said Maritime Affairs Secretary Rizwan Ahmad during a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Finance. The committee had sought the document after the secretary acknowledged a day earlier that under the 2007 concession agreement only a 20-year tax holiday was agreed and there was no mention of sub-contractors.

The government has proposed a 40-year tax holiday for Gwadar Port concession holders, developers, contractors, lenders and sub-contractors. In the past, the agreement had never been shared with either the National Assembly or the Senate, said the secretary, inviting fierce reaction from the committee members.

'If a bureaucrat, who is in possession of the agreement, is more honourable than a senator, then there is no need for having Senate,' said Senator Talha Mehmood of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F).

The standing committee chairman termed the secretary's statement about 'confidentiality' a breach of parliament. 'Business contracts are never confidential,' said the chairman, who is also a lawyer of the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

However, he said if it was written that terms and conditions would remain secret, then these could not be disclosed. Committee Chairman Senator Farooq H Naek clarified that committee members were not against giving concessions rather they wanted the original agreement to be implemented in true letter and spirit.

Gwadar Port along with the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has the potential of triggering development and ending poverty, said the committee...