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ISLAMABAD: Pakistan plans to hold its first-ever maritime investment conference to attract local and international investors and strengthen the country’s blue economy, the government said on Tuesday.

The country is striving to modernize its ports and customs systems to improve efficiency, speed up cargo handling and facilitate businesses engaged in imports and exports, aiming to boost national revenue.

Earlier this year in August, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif directed officials to cut the time required to process containers to avoid congestion at port facilities.

The government not only wants a more efficient system for its own trade but also hopes to handle cargo from the landlocked Central Asian republics, giving them greater access to global markets through sea lanes.

“The upcoming conference will present both micro and macro investment opportunities to domestic and international investors across all ports and affiliated departments,” Federal Minister for Maritime Affairs Muhammad Junaid Anwar Chaudhry said, according to an official statement issued after a planning meeting.

“The initiative seeks to attract sustainable investments to strengthen the blue economy and maritime infrastructure,” he added. Officials said the Pakistan Maritime Investment Conference 2025 would serve as a strategic platform to position the country as a regional hub for maritime investment and innovation.

The date, venue, and thematic focus of the event were discussed during the meeting, with these details expected to be announced soon.

Discussions during the planning meeting focused on investment opportunities in port infrastructure, marine transport, fisheries, shipbuilding, and coastal tourism, in line with Pakistan’s broader economic diversification and sustainable development goals.

The ministry said a media and branding campaign would promote the event globally, targeting investors, financial institutions and development partners.

Chaudhry also directed officials to finalize standardized templates for investment proposals to streamline the evaluation and approval processes for new ventures in the maritime sector.

The minister said the conference would mark a “significant milestone” in advancing Pakistan’s maritime ambitions and strengthening public-private collaboration to unlock the country’s economic potential.

ISLAMABAD: Authorities in Pakistan’s Punjab province have launched the largest post-flood damage survey in the province’s history, the region’s disaster management agency said on Wednesday, to assess the full impact of this year’s devastating monsoon rains, which inundated large parts of the country’s agricultural heartland.

The Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) of Punjab said in a statement that more than 2,200 field teams were conducting door-to-door assessments across flood-affected districts.

“Our teams are working across all affected districts to collect reliable, verifiable data that will guide rehabilitation and compensation efforts,” PDMA Director General Irfan Ali Kathia said in a statement. “The survey will help identify the hardest-hit families and areas so assistance can be prioritized effectively.”

So far, 24 percent of the survey has been completed, the statement said, covering over 200,000 affected residents, 56,735 damaged houses, and 7,293 dead livestock, including nearly 5,800 large animals.

Survey teams have also identified around 600,000 acres of flood-hit farmland, much of it in southern and central Punjab, where river overflows and breaches displaced thousands of families and destroyed major crops, including rice and sugarcane.

On Tuesday, the PDMA reported that major rivers were flowing at normal levels after weeks of dangerously high water.

The Sutlej carried 108,000 cusecs at Ganda Singh Wala — a medium-level flood — and 81,000 cusecs at Sulemanki, categorized as a low-level flood.

Flows in the Ravi and Chenab rivers have largely subsided as well, while no significant flow was reported in the hill torrents of the Dera Ghazi Khan region.

Punjab was among the worst-hit provinces during this year’s monsoon season, with intense rainfall and riverine floods damaging infrastructure, homes, and farmland across multiple districts.

More than 1,000 people have died nationwide in monsoon-related incidents, including landslides, flash floods and roof collapses.