Govt taking steps to facilitate investors at economic zones: official

FAISALABAD: The government is taking comprehensive measures to provide maximum facilities to investors at the economic zones with an aim to transform Pakistan into a hub of manufacturing economic activities, a senior government official said.

Talking to newsmen at the Faisalabad Industrial Estate Development and Management Company (FIEDMC) office, Special Assistant to Prime Minister on China-Pakistan Economic Corridor Affairs, Khalid Mansoor said that the development work on CPEC Phase-I was underway expeditiously and an investment of $25 billion has so far been made in the industrial estates under the CPEC Phase-I.

He said $13 billion has been invested, while another $12 billion investment is in the pipeline, adding: “Now, we were working on CPEC Phase-II, under which the foreign investors would be offered to make investment in [the] much-needed sectors of the country such as agriculture, textiles, pharmaceuticals, industry, IT and others.”

The special assistant said two sectors, agriculture and textile, would especially be focused in the CPEC Phase-II and maximum investment would be brought in these sectors.

About the security situation for the Chinese, Mansoor said, “We have talked with the law-enforcement agencies for bringing a comprehensive security system for the Chinese.”

To a question, he said Pakistan wanted stability in Afghanistan, adding that stability in Afghanistan would provide more support to the CPEC.

Mansoor said that Pakistan was an agrarian country but unfortunately, we were far behind in boosting agriculture production due to certain reasons.

The legal issues faced by the small and medium industry, who wanted to shift their industry into Allama Iqbal Industrial Estate’s special economic zone, would be resolved on a priority basis.

About the negative propaganda being made by India, Mansoor said that he was informed that an investment of Rs194 billion has been made in the Allama Iqbal Industrial city so far, but it was not disseminated.

He urged for highlighting the investment projects of the country through social media to counter the negative propaganda.

The special assistant said the government has enforced a law and FIEDMC has also started implementation on it, under which plots in special economic zones would be cancelled of that investor who didn’t start establishing industry after August 31.

Mansoor also visited Allama Iqbal Industrial City’s special economic zone and reviewed the development work there.

Earlier, he was briefed in detail about the FIEDMC by its chairman Mian Kashif Ashfaq.