The Chairman of Export Processing Zones Authority (EPZA), Tariq Hasan, has claimed that the cost of doing business in Export Processing Zones (EPZs) in Pakistan is around 45 percent less as compared to UAE. Speaking at a meeting of Karachi Association of Trade and Industry (KATI) on Wednesday, he said that the investors in UAE informed him that cost of doing business is around 45 percent higher as compared to Pakistan.
He claimed that KEPZ is the cheapest free zone in the world. He said that EPZ is one of the best export zones in the world as it charges only 1.5 percent tax, while imports are totally free. But, unfortunately, very few people know about EPZs in Pakistan due to sheer negligence by the commercial counsellors.
He informed the business community that Pakistani investors who invested in Dubai and Sharjah's free zones have started shifting their business to Pakistan due to high cost of doing business there. He said that the investors from UAE have started shifting their business to EPZA due to better facilities and incentives as compare to other export processing zones in the world.
Tariq said that a number of Pakistani investors who had set up their units at Jebel Ali Free Zone, Dubai, and Hamriyah Free Zone, Sharjah, have either planned to return to their homeland due to ever increasing cost of doing business or have already shifted to Export Processing Zone Karachi.
The EPZA chairman said that there is no duty on import of machinery in EPZ, which is a lucrative facility to the investors to import machinery without paying a rupee tax on its import. He said that efforts are being made to get relaxation of business ratio at 50-50 to the tariff and non-tariff areas in order to attract more investment to the zones. He said that EPZ is providing one-window facilities to the investors including all utilities, infrastructure and security.
Tariq informed the members of KATI that construction work on Mehran Highway, approaching the EPZ, has been initiated and is likely to be completed in March this year. He said that EPZA is also setting up research and development cell for the purpose of strong marketing. He said that exporters from EPZ had earned 500 million dollars last year, which he considered as not satisfactory and vowed to increase it in future.
He said that he would visit almost all chambers and trade bodies in the country and apprise them about existing facilities in EPZ. KATI Chairman Ehteshamuddin appreciated the efforts of EPZA Chairman to bring investment to EPZ and said that Tariq has done a lot to revamp and reorganise the EPZA during his brief stint as EPZA chief.
He hoped that EPZ chief would take revolutionary steps to turn EPZ as a tough competitor to the free zones in UAE and other parts of the world. He further advised him to get the organisation out of the clutches of bureaucracy and make it more investor-friendly. Zahid Hussain said that despite massive facilities to the investors the exports from EPZ are not even five percent of the country's exports, which is a point of concern, and effective measures should be taken to match the export performance of EPZ with the facilities and exemptions given to the investors.
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