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LAHORE: The Special Economic Zones Authority (SEZA) Punjab chairman S.M Naveed called for a unity to improve connectivity and trade with the regional countries in a meeting with Pakistan China Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCJCCI) on Monday.
On a visit to PCJCCI, Naveed said The SEZA was providing business enterprises with suitable policy packages to attract potential investors. “We should unite to improve connectivity and trade among countries in the region,” he said, adding that Chinese companies were concerned about growing soya beans in Pakistan.
“Due to the opening of various industrial zones under CPEC [China–Pakistan Economic Corridor], the volume of trade will expand manifold.” Naveed revealed that around 10 zones were working in Punjab which include; M3 Industrial City, Allama Iqbal Industrial City, Rahim Yar Khan Industrial Estate, Bhalwal Industrial Estate, JW China Pakistan, Vehari Industrial Estate, and others.
Punjab’s SEZs were a hub of key industrial sectors like textile, agriculture, food processing, automobiles, and services sector, he added. Pakistan agreed to provide gas, water, electricity and other facilities to factories in industrial parks, according to the SEZ official.
Speaking on the occasion, PCJCCI president Moazzam Ali Ghurki said SEZs provides economic connectivity between resource-starving states and resource-rich regions. “This kind of regional integration enhances peace, promotes tranquility, and ensures economic prosperity for the whole region.”
PCJCCI senior vice president Fang Yulong was of the view that Pakistan offers a big market for investment in energy, automobile, textile, surgical equipment, infrastructure, engineering, agriculture, minerals and SMEs. He added that the country’s focus was also on renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, thermal, and biogas.
“Pakistan welcomes Chinese investment in all the sectors to take advantage of liberal and forward-looking investment policy.” The SEZs would enjoy a 10-year exemption from custom duties and taxes for all capital goods imported into the country for development, operations, and maintenance, he added. PCJCCI vice president Hamza Khalid urged the government for a maximum support to the zone developers in order to succeed and achieve the target goals. “Pakistan is looking at other country’s experience, which has drawn the arbitration rules from the West, and currently intending to replicate the China’s experience of cluster development,” he said.
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