Sindh Board of Investment (SBI) and Korangi Association of Trade and Industry (KATI) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen the relations and partnership between the business community and Sindh government to promote investment opportunities in the province. President of the KATI Masood Naqi and SBI's Director General Manzoor Ali Shaikh signed the MoU on behalf of their respective organizations.
"Sindh Government is using all possible means for boosting local and foreign investment and trade in the province with ultimate objective of socio-economic upgrading of people," said SBI Chairperson Naheed Memon, adding that SBI had focused on provision of maximum facilities to the investors and for that purpose a facilitation centre would be set up at the SBI office. She said that the centre would provide quick and standard services under one roof to the investors who would be linked electronically.
"We want to instantly resolve the business community's issues online," she said. Naheed Memon further said that SBI was working closely with the provincial government to bring investments including business and industrial ventures in rural Sindh while agribusiness was SBI's prime focus. "CPEC projects have entered in next phase where collaboration between local and Chinese Industries will be expected on large scale," she said, adding that she had no doubt on it that CPEC would prove a "game-changer" venture for the region and Pakistan.
SBI Chief invited proposals from the KATI leadership and advised them to apprise her of their requirement along with their feedback on the investment-related policies so that more practical steps could be taken in this regard. She said that Sindh government was seriously working on infrastructural development in the industrial estates. Under this move, she said, it had approved funds for the repair and upgrading of the roads in Korangi industrial area.
KATI President Masood Naqi said that share of Sindh in the national revenue was declining every year which indicated grave situation of industry in the province. He said that increasing trade deficit and declining exports now became the largest challenge for Pakistan's economy. "There must be a focus on agribusiness opportunity and especially on food processing business in rural Sindh,: he urged saying that there is a lot of potential in Sindh that is yet to be explored to bring investment and industrialization. He also said that southern bypass was a long-awaited project, which could facilitate transportation of goods and other industrial movement without disturbing the Karachi roads; He hoped Sindh government would design and allocate funds for this project on priority basis.
"This MoU and such understandings should be taken seriously by the government agencies, because only the public-private partnership can bring investors to Sindh," said Chairman KATI's standing committee on industrial investments and standardization Farrukh Mazhar. Senator Abdul Haseeb Khan urged that SBI should also play its part for social welfare projects which are well-defined in its provisions. Zubair Chaya, Umer Rehan, Director Administration Abrar Ahmed Shaikh, Director Projects Abdul Azeem Uqaili and other officials attended the meeting.
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