Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf said Tuesday the Sust dry port near Pakistan- China border would bolster bilateral commerce to new levels, the state-run APP news agency reported.

"This landmark project is poised to impart further depth and strength to Pakistan-China economic and political ties as well as help expand Pakistan's commerce linkages with the regional countries including Central Asia states," Musharraf was quoted as saying while inaugurating the facility.

The port, jointly built by Pakistan and China in the northern Pakistani border city Sust, is situated about 3,300 meters above the sea level.

The dry port has the capacity to handle 40 Chinese containers a day and this would be increased to 400 containers per day in the future, according to the APP report.

Stressing the importance of Sust Dry Port, the President said the state-of-the-art facility, an elaborate network of infrastructure being put in place across Pakistan and improvement in Korakoram Highway would provide China shortest access to the Middle East and other world markets through Pakistani deep sea ports including Gwadar.

Source: Xinhua