CPEC SEZs: Dawood instructs line ministries to expedite utilities' provision

ISLAMABAD: Advisor to the Prime Minister for Commerce and Investment Abdul Razak Dawood on Thursday instructed line ministries to expedite the process of utilities' provision to the Special Economic Zones (SEZs). He expressed these views, while chairing a meeting at the Board of Investment (BOI), Islamabad to review work progress on different CPEC zones including Rashakai, Dabiji, Allama Iqbal Industrial City, Faisalabad, and others.

Chairman BOI Atif R Bokhari, Secretary Fareena Mazhar, Project Director CPEC Industrial Cooperation, BOI Asim Ayub, and officials from other line ministries were present on the occasion. Dawood said that the CPEC Special Economic Zones would play an important role in the development of Pakistan. He instructed government institutions to expedite work on provision of utilities to the SEZs, as it would facilitate early population of these zones.

A number of Special Economic Zones (SEZs) planned under the CPEC are meant to attract Chinese investors, who would relocate their manufacturing establishments to Pakistan to move closer to the growing Pakistani middle-class urban consumer base and the thriving export markets of Middle East and North Africa.

In return, Pakistan would get investments and jobs, ushering in a new era of industrialization. The progress on this front had been minimal. But since the last few months, the SEZs are back in business, with significant developments.

Apart from Gwadar Free Zone, a total of nine SEZs are planned under the CPEC, including the three priority SEZs in Sindh, Punjab, and the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. Under the SEZ Act, 2012, while the federal government is responsible for according approvals and providing utilities, the provincial governments are responsible for developing the zones. The three provincial governments have adopted different approaches for their respective SEZs.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020