Islamabad: Maritime Affairs Secretary Rizwan Ahmad — during a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Finance on Thursday — announced his ministry’s decision to share the original plans of the Gwadar Agreement and the Novation Agreement with the senate on the condition of confidentiality, a news source reported.
The committee had asked the government to submit the documents as the state had previously proposed a 40-year tax concession for Gwadar’s operators, their contractors, and sub-contractors. However, on Tuesday, the Maritime Affairs Secretary had revealed that the original 2007 agreement had a provision for a 20-year tax holiday, and that it hadn’t included the sub-contractors. The senate, in response, had directed the secretary to submit both agreements to the senate for scrutiny.
The secretary had earlier said that there was a secrecy clause in the agreement due to which it could not be shared with the public. However, on the insistence of the senators, Ahmad stated that he would share the documents only if the parliament agreed to return the drafts back to the government at the end of the session.
