The Board of Administrators of Export Development Fund (EDF) on Friday approved funds for various export-oriented projects, including setting up of three garment cities in Karachi, Lahore and Faisalabad.
Commerce Minister Humayun Akhtar Khan presided over the meeting, which was also attended by the representatives of NWFP, Sindh and Balochistan governments, besides, Education Minister Zubaida Jalal.
In connection with the implementation of Trade Policy 2003-04, some strategic decisions were made for funding of various projects in collaboration with all the four provinces to promote exports of Pakistan.
Humayun said that he was very keen to raise the implementation status of the initiatives announced in the last Trade Policy.
To set up three garment cities in Karachi, Lahore and Faisalabad, Rs 1.42 billion were approved, whereas 50 percent of this amount would be disbursed in the first phase of this project.
In order to promote export of jewellery, gems and precious and semi-precious stones, a Dazzle Park will be set up in Karachi. For this project, Rs 40 million was approved from the EDF.
Another Rs 20 million was approved for Defence Export Promotion Organisation (DEPO). This amount would be utilised to increase defence production for export purposes.
He said Rs 15 million was approved for the restoration of date processing plant in Balochistan. This was decided in view of facilitating the date growers of Balochistan.
The commerce minister laid special emphasis on shrimp farming in Balochistan.
Zubaida Jalal offered her services in acquiring land from the local landowners in Jivani, which is considered to be the best location for shrimp farming.
The commerce minister said that if the provincial government identified the area for shrimp farming, the Commerce Ministry would provide consultants and financial help for the project.
It was approved that Rs 6.5 million would be given to set up Apple Treatment Plant in Quetta.
It was also approved in principle that a Model Quarry and a Training Institute would be set up in Buner, NWFP, to exploit the potential of this area for mineral and gems export.
In order to conduct a study for Expo Centre in Peshawar, Rs 0.5 million was approved.
Another amount of Rs 0.5 million was sanctioned to carry out a feasibility study to establish a big warehousing facility near Pak-Afghan border in NWFP to facilitate and promote export from Pakistan to Afghanistan.
It was also decided that a Date Processing Plant would be set up in D.I. Khan with a cost of Rs 20.4 million. This amount was also sanctioned from the EDF.
To promote fisheries and shrimp farming in Sindh a committee was formed, including all the stakeholders to look into consultancy issues. The consultants will be hired and the work would be initiated soon.
The Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) will co-ordinate with this committee and the funding would be made through the EDF.
Humayun also assured his co-operation in enhancement of livestock exports from Sindh and establishment of an agro zone in Karachi.
It was also decided in the meeting that an agro-processing zone and Potato Dehydration Plant would be set up in Punjab after working out the details of these projects by the Pakistan Horticulture Development and Export Board (PHDEB).
The commerce minister stressed on co-ordination between the provinces to carry out these projects for the promotion of exports.