WITH few ships calling at the centre stage Gwadar port in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), Pakistan's government is taking a series of administrative steps to make it more commercially attractive.
Among the steps being taken by its federal and regional governments include giving the status of regional subcapital and promoting tourism to revive the struggling town of Gwadar.
However according to a Nikkei Asia report, experts believe these actions will not work unless infrastructure gaps are addressed in Gwadar, which is the US$50 billion Pakistan component of the Belt and Road Initiative.
Earlier in April, media outlet Gwadar Pro had reported that Gwadar had been given the status of capital of South Balochistan.
Gwadar Port Authority chairman Naseer Khan Kashani had said that they received a letter from the government of Balochistan about this but questions have arisen over this as there is no South Balochistan.
According to officials, Nikkei said the process of making Gwadar a subcapital of Balochistan was ongoing and it will also house several high-ranking government officials in a provincial camp office.
The parliament member for Gwadar, Aslam Bhootani, said Gwadar was the future of Balochistan, and declaring it a subcapital would help develop the region.
But analysts do not agree with the government's move to revive Gwadar Port by making administrative tweaks.
Michael Kugelman, the deputy director of the Asia Program at the Wilson Center in Washington, said sudden administrative changes were bound to fail unless Gwadar was able to become a truly developed and functional port.
"Progress on the ground is what will bring acclaim to Gwadar, and government can't engineer progress through public relations campaigns," he told Nikkei.
"This is a desperate move by the Pakistani government to create buy-in for the Gwadar Port," said Malik Siraj Akbar, a South Asia analyst based in Washington.
He told Nikkei that the government was taking these cosmetic measures to create media hype and divert attention from the grievances of the local people in Gwadar.
The Pakistan government has also started promoting Gwadar as a tourist destination, with Balochistan chief minister Jam Kamal Khan recently inaugurating the Coastal Tourism App for Gwadar.
The government has even sponsored trips of celebrities and sportsmen to attract tourism to Gwadar and is also promoting a newly built cricket stadium in Gwadar as one of the most beautiful cricket stadiums in the world.
Kugelman believes the problem for Islamabad was that Washington doesn't perceive the investment climate in Pakistan to be nearly as attractive as it is elsewhere, especially in the growing economies of Southeast Asia and elsewhere in the Indo-Pacific.
Akbar was more critical of the approach used by the government.
"You can't run a port by merely organising cricket matches and concerts or via Twitter campaigns," he said, adding that the government needs a more serious approach toward Gwadar and must prove that it has the infrastructure needed to operate as a modern port city.
Nikkei said the government's attempts to promote Gwadar have further highlighted the infrastructure gaps in the port town.
Prominent social activist Nasir Rahim Sohrabi had tweeted that the main market of Gwadar had been without electricity for many days this month.
Bhootani said Gwadar was developing very slowly and it will take some time before the project can kick off.
"Gwadar Port was established 15 years ago, but so far it has failed to deliver," he said.
When there is no electricity and proper road connectivity for heavy traffic, then Gwadar can't kick off as a viable commercial project, he added.