AD Ports Group and Pakistan Board of Investment Sign MoU to Explore Developing an Industrial Zone near Karachi Port and Port Qasim

• Three other agreements signed separately to reposition Pakistan and the Port of Karachi as a major global trade, transport, and logistics hub, and gateway to Central Asia
• AD Ports Group to extend full benefits of its integrated trade, transport, economic development, and logistics ecosystem to assist trade upgrade of key UAE trade partner
   

Abu Dhabi, UAE/Karachi, Pakistan – 27 February 2025: In the presence of His Highness Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council, AD Ports Group has signed in Karachi, Pakistan, a Memorandum of Understanding with the Pakistan Board of Investment to explore developing an industrial zone near Karachi Port and Port Qasim to facilitate trade and economic activity.

The Group also announced the separate signings of three other agreements bringing to bear the full economic weight of its five-business cluster structure of ports, economic cities and free zones, maritime and shipping, logistics, and digital services. 

The synergistic business ecosystem of interrelated businesses produces unique end-to-end trade and logistics solutions that enable trade for Pakistan and position the country into a world-class maritime hub and key gateway to Central Asia.

Pakistan plays a key role in one of the Group’s strategic growth priorities in Central Asia as the maritime gateway of the “Middle Corridor” connecting Asia and Europe, where the Group has acquired maritime and logistics businesses in Georgia, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. 

Redevelopment of the Port of Karachi, Pakistan’s main port with overland connections into Central Asia, will further develop the “Middle Corridor” into a modern and cost-efficient maritime sea route.

The latest deployment of Group resources to Pakistan follows a series of expansions since the Group’s entry into the country in 2023 when it obtained a 50-year concession, with joint venture partner Kaheel Terminals, to operate five container terminal berths on the East Wharf of the Port of Karachi. In 2024, the Group and Kaheel Terminals received a 25-year concession to operate seven general and bulk cargo berths at Karachi’s East Wharf. Last year, the Group increased maritime shipping to Pakistan, which attracted new clients.

Today’s signing of three new partnership agreements and a Memorandum of Understanding represents an important expansion of the Group’s activities in Pakistan, authorising partnership agreements with different Pakistani entities to digitalise and modernise the Port of Karachi’s customs management systems, and to improve the quality and range of marine services, dredging, and vessel pooling services, as well as providing comprehensive and integrated end-to-end logistics solutions

The new signings commit AD Ports Group to work with Pakistani partners to explore the possibility of establishing an industrial zone for industrial and commercial businesses near Karachi and Qasim Ports, and to provide integrated end-to-end logistics solutions over air, ocean, and inland transport, including warehousing and distribution, to dramatically improve Pakistan’s inland trade corridors into Central Asia.

AD Ports Group is one of the fastest-growing integrated trade, transport, logistics and economic development businesses in the Middle East, which has leveraged a value-enhancing expansion over the last four years to raise revenue five-fold and nearly triple EBITDA. In 2024, the Group recorded record revenue and EBITDA for the fourth consecutive year, as it successfully drove forward a value-enhancing international expansion and delivered an AED 3.1 billion (USD 845 million) expansion of Khalifa Port, one of the world’s largest container terminals, to keep Abu Dhabi at the forefront of global trade.

Captain Mohamed Juma Al Shamisi, Managing Director and Group CEO of AD Ports Group, said: "We are pleased to sign these agreements as part of our commitment to supporting economic growth in Pakistan, in line with the vision of our wise leadership to advance relations between the two countries in a way that benefits both, providing new opportunities and achieving prosperity for the people of Pakistan. AD Ports Group seeks to enable trade, for the UAE, and for its trade partners around the world, especially in Pakistan, a key gateway to Central Asia, where we are deploying our expertise and our integrated business offerings to enable trade in Central Asia on a broader and more efficient scale.”

Details of the three agreements signed today are:

• A strategic partnership agreement between AD Ports Group’s Maqta Technologies and Pakistan’s PSW to explore strengthening Pakistan Single Window systems through collaboration with Pakistan Customs Services to modernise select borders and analyse cross border systems.
• A strategic partnership agreement between AD Ports Group and Bahria Foundation, a Pakistan diversified conglomerate engaged in industrial, commercial and development activities, to enhance the productivity of the dredging, marine services, and vessel pooling at Karachi Port.
• A strategic partnership agreement between the Group’s Noatum Logistics and KGTL, the Group’s joint venture with Kaheel Terminals, to explore providing comprehensive and integrated end-to-end logistics solutions over air, ocean and inland transport, as well as warehousing and distribution solutions including cold storage, to develop a corridor into greater Pakistan and Central Asia.