ISLAMABAD: The Senate on Friday passed two government bills, including the Special Economic Zones (Amendment) Bill, 2026, that aims to encourage the development of special economic zones in the country.
The Senate session appeared to have marked with apparent disinterest of the Senate’s top leadership in the wake of the absence of Chairman Senate Yousaf Raza Gilani, Deputy Chairman Senate Syedaal Khan and Leader of the House in Senate Ishaq Dar from the session. Pakistan Peoples Partys Parliamentary Leader in Senate Sherry Rehman presided over the Senate meeting.
Finance State Minister Bilal Azhar Kayani presented the bill in the Senate meeting due to the absence of the mover Qaiser Sheikh, the Investment Minister.
Already passed by the National Assembly, the Special Economic Zones (Amendment) Bill, 2026 now requires ceremonial assent from President Asif Ali Zardari to become a law.
The bill seeks to amend the Special Economic Zones Act, 2012 to allow the federal government, by notification in the official gazette, to establish a federal special economic zones authority.
The State of Objects and Reasons of the bill reads that the purpose of the amendments is to “encourage development of special economic zones by fostering incentives, instituting an investor-friendly framework and providing an expeditious dispute resolution procedure.”
Another government bill passed by the House was Pakistan Nursing and Midwifery Council Bill, 2026, moved by Health Minister Mustafa Kamal.
Kamal requested the House to pass the bill on the grounds that the bill was reviewed and passed by the NA’s standing committee concerned. However, the opposition lawmakers opposed the minister’s request, demanding that the bill be referred to the Senate’s health panel.
Rehman, the Presiding Officer, held voting on whether to allow the presentation of the bill or refer it to the committee. As a result of the voice vote, 14 votes came in favour of the bill’s presentation, and 13 votes demanding that the bill be referred to the relevant panel. Thereafter, the chair allowed that the bill be presented that was eventually passed by the House.
The bill seeks to “restore effective regulation, ensure transparency, and align the nursing and midwifery profession with international standards.”
Apart from that, the state finance minister moved four other government bills; the Netting of Financial Arrangements Bill, 2026, the Export-Import Bank of Pakistan (Amendment) Bill, 2026, the Fiscal Responsibility and Debt Limitation (Amendment) Bill, 2026, and the Islamabad Capital Territory Condominium (Ownership and Management) Bill, 2026 in the Senate. The bills were referred to the relevant standing committees
Kayani also laid before the House a copy of the Customs (Amendment) Bill, 2026, as required under the relevant law. The bill was referred to the relevant finance panel for recommendations by the coming Monday.
Earlier, in the question hour, a written reply submitted by Overseas Pakistanis Minister Salik Hussian revealed that 5.9 million people were unemployed in the country with unemployment rate recorded at 7.1 percent in the fiscal year 2024-25.
In another written reply, Communications Minister Aleem Khan stated that National Highway Authority (NHA) generated revenue of 62.33 billion rupees through motorways in three years, from 2022 to 2025.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026
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