The Chairman of Export Processing Zones Authority (EPZA), Tariq Hasan, has offered every possible incentive to the local entrepreneurs intending to invest in Export Processing Zone Karachi (KEPZ).
In a meeting with the delegation of industrial associations led by Patron In-Chief, Korangi Association of Trade and Industry (KATI) S M Muneer on Tuesday Tariq Hasan 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. EPZA chief further stated that the cost of doing business in EPZs in Pakistan is around 45 percent less as compared to UAE. He claimed that KEPZ is the cheapest free zone in the world.
Delegation also included Senator Abdul Haseeb Khan, President, Pakistan Business and Intellectuals Forum Mian Zahid Hussain, Chairman KATI, Ehtesham Uddin, Patron In-Chief of North Karachi Association of Trade and Industry (NKATI) Noor Ahmed Khan, Chairman NKATI Abdul Rasheed Fodderwala, Patron In-Chief Bin Qasim Association, Mian Muhammad Ahmed and Former Chairman KATI, Johar Ali Qandhari. Tariq said very few foreign investors know about EPZs in Pakistan due to sheer negligence of the commercial counsellors and if the government would appoint commercial counselors purely on merit the zones in Pakistan may receive foreign investment due to its facilities and low-cost.
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.
The leader of the delegation S M Muneer while appreciating the efforts of EPZA chief to make the zone a presentable and competitive industrial zone. He assured EZPA chief of his fullest support to KEPZ and hoped that the zone would be attracting local as well as foreign investors. He appreciated the efforts of Tariq Hasan to make EPZA free of red- tapism and bureaucratic snags. Senator Haseeb Khan assured Tariq Hassan of his support and to take up the issues of EPZA at the Senate and government level to make it more transparent and attractive for the investors. Mian Zahid Hussain said on the occasion if the condition of minimum export should be made on category basis. He praised the cleanliness and greenery in the KEPZ saying that KEPZ is now becoming a representative and world class export zone. He hoped that the foreign as well as local investment in the zone would be flourishing soon.-PR