Korangi Industrial Park, which is being constructed by the National Industrial Park (NIP), is expected to be made operational by the end of this year. Sources in the Planning and Development (P&D) department told Business Recorder on Monday that the NIP had completed almost 90 per cent construction work of the project and was striving to make it operational by the end of current year.
About the Port Qasim Industrial Park project, spreading over 900 acres, the sources said work on this project was in full swing, and hoped that it would be completed by next year. Furthermore, they said the Sindh government had signed an agreement with the NIP to conduct feasibility study for Special Economic Zones (SEZs), which would be established with an estimated cost of about Rs 3.075 billion in the interior of Sindh.
They said the Sindh government had finalised all legal procedures in this regard and had planned to spend around Rs 50 million for this purpose. The sources said the study would be completed within the stipulated period of four months and civil work was expected to commence shortly. The project would be completed within three years, they added.
They said SEZs were aimed at promoting industrialisation to attract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), especially by the Chinese companies in the areas of manufacturing, high technology, vendor industry and other export oriented industries. They said the proposed zones would be developed under public-private partnership where public sector would provide some level of support (provision of off-site infrastructure, equity investment, soft loans, bond issues, etc) to enable a private sector developer to obtain a reasonable rate of return on the project.
According to sources, the government would also provide income tax exemption for a period of five years from the start of commercial operations and 100 percent depreciation allowance. They informed that the federal government would ensure provision of gas, electricity and other utilities at these zones.
Moreover, they said these zones would ensure access of foreign investors to 160 million Pakistani consumers, besides regional markets of Central Asian States, Afghanistan, Iran and India by road-link, sea and air. They said the zones would be set up in the districts of Larkana, Shaheed Benazir Bhutto, Tharparkar, Hala, Thatta and Badin, on priority basis to attract foreign investment.
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