SHANGHAI, Mar. 22 -- Gwadar Harbor deep-sea-port, a project jointly developed by China and Pakistan since 2002, officially kicked off daily operation on Tuesday.

The harbor will become a portal of Central Asia as well as the energy and trade corridor of Asia, said Pervez Musharraf, President of Pakistan, at the project completion ceremony, according to the Oriental Morning Post today. The trade of 60 percent of oil and energy products between China, Central Asia and Gulf countries will depend on the corridor, the report quoted Musharraf as saying.

Shaukat Aziz, the prime minister of Pakistan, said the harbor will become a center of trade and economic activities. It will also create thousands of job opportunities for local people, according to the report.

As China's biggest ever foreign-aid-project, the harbor will significantly contribute to Pakistan, especially Balochista's economic development, said Li Shenglin, China's transportation minister, according to the report.

Gwadar is a southwestern coastal town in Balochistan, Pakistan, close to the important Straits of Hormuz, through which more than 13 million barrels of oil pass through a day. It is strategically located between three increasingly important regions of the world: the oil-rich Middle East, heavily populated South Asia and the economically emerging and resource-rich Central Asia.

With the majority of financial and technical assistance coming from China, the construction of the project was launched in March 2002.

The new port will encompass conversion facilities to allow for the movement of natural gas as a part of plans for a termination point for the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan natural gas pipeline.

PSA International Pte Ltd, a Singapore port operator, won a 40-year operation right of the port last December. The Pakistan government also entitled the company to a series of preferential policies, including the exemption of 20 years of income tax and 40 years of import tax for materials and equipment being used to develop the port and its free economic zone, the report said. The Balochistan government also offered the company some local tax exemptions, which may last 20 years, the report said.

According to the agreement reached by PSA and Pakistan, the operator is expected to invest US$550 million in the port within 10 years, the newspaper said.