SEZs will play key role in economic development: official

LAHORE: Pakistan has been facing the issue of trade deficit over the last few decades with the situation getting worse over the last decade due to its reliance on imported goods. This was stated by S.M. Naveed, Chairman of the Special Economic Zones Authority (SEZA) during a meeting held at his office on Wednesday.

He said that according to the State Bank of Pakistan, Pakistan's exports during the FY2021 stood at 22,536 million US dollars whereas its imports were 43,645 million US dollars, indicating a sharp trade deficit due to the lack of export-oriented products made by the country. To uplift the export sector of Pakistan, nine special economic zones (SEZs) have been identified under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) where joint ventures from Pakistan, China and other foreign countries will be formed to enhance industrial production.

S M Naveed said that I believe SEZs will play a great role in writing a new chapter of economic development of Pakistan because the government is offering a lot of incentives for the industries to be set up in the zones and a large number of investors are taking interest to invest in them, and more are expected in the future.

He further added that Pakistan's foreign direct investment (FDI) in the export sector has been almost zero and CPEC SEZs are one of the main focuses of the Pakistani government to uplift the export sector by attracting the FDI.

He said that his country has now all the potential to start massive industrialization and the investors who invested in Pakistan now will be pioneers of many sectors of the industry in the country and may get huge benefits in the future.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023