Rashakai, SEZ to give new direction to modern industrialization: BOI
ISLAMABAD, 15 Sep — The Board of Investment (BOI) said on Tuesday that the Rashakai Special Economic Zone (SEZ) will take a new direction for modern industrialization in Pakistan and large foreign direct investment (FDI) in the country will bring. .
Recently, Pakistan and China signed the Rashakai SEZ Development Agreement under the Chinese Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) to promote ease of business (EODB) in the country, the federal secretary of the BOI, Ms. Fareena Mazhar said this while talking to APP here. .
Through this milestone in the economic history of the country, the government wants to provide conducive business environment to bring foreign direct investment (FDI) into the country, she said.
Fareena said that Rashakai M-1 Nowshera, Dhaba, Dhabeji Thatta. , Allama Iqbal Industrial City, Faisalabad and the Science Technology Park at the National University of Science and Technology have also been approved and will have the government’s highest priority in developing these zones to create the better business opportunity for foreign investment.
The secretary said that the development of Rashakai SEZ has a great strategic implication because it is closer to the resource rich Central Asian Republics (CARs) and that it also plays a role for economic integration in the region.
She said all of these SEZs would have a far-reaching socio-economic impact in the region by attracting more investment, encouraging industrialization, creating jobs in the industry and ensuring export growth.
She said the completion of Rashakai SEzs will promote the ease of doing business in the country and facilitate the domestic and foreign investors.
When asked, she said SEZ in Hattar is also a BoI priority, adding that the demand for electricity has halted the completion of economic zones, but that the matter has been resolved.
She said Pakistan’s proximity to China would enable these SEZs to promote economic interdependence for mutual economic benefit.
Chairman BOI said that this milestone agreement between the two friendly countries would provide the roadmap for the establishment of new SEZs in the country.
She said the BOI had promoted the establishment of all SEZs with the aim of capitalizing on investment inflows under CPEC, including economic development in the provinces, jobs, industrial development and export production in Pakistan.
On another question, she said that Rashakai SEZ has a unique competitive advantage due to the proximity to the first point of the CPEC route, and the important resource and manufacturing base in the region.
On another question about the key sector for future investment in Pakistan, she said that the addition of textile values, information technology, logistics, tourism and housing, are the key sectors for the government to bring in foreign investment in these areas.
She said Pakistan had acquired the $ 2.5 billion FDI this year and that the government was committed to bringing in more foreign investment in the potential sector this year.
The secretary said the government has set a target to complete the reforms in BOI within the next three years, through the Pakistan Regulatory Modernization Initiative (PRMI) at provincial and rural level.
She said the reform process would be completed in three levels, including mapping, analysis and guillotine to carry out the regulation of the gross route level to the country level.
The government has allocated Rs 150 billion for the completion of these important projects to carry out the reform in the institution.
