Pakistan's Standing Committee on Defence Production has called for work to be accelerated on the country's long-delayed program to develop a naval shipyard in Gwadar, a port city on Pakistan's southwestern coast.

A statement by Pakistan's Senate on 27 May said its defence production committee had "laid stress to expedite the completion [of the shipyard]", which was first proposed in 2008.

The Senate added that the construction project should be overseen by the country's Ministry of Defence Production, which should "supervise all work [including] conducting feasibility studies [and] infrastructure to [support] future load and density requirements".

The new shipyard would be focused on meeting the Pakistan Navy's requirements and defence export opportunities, alongside pursuing commercial shipbuilding contracts to strengthen revenue streams, said the Senate.