ISLAMABAD: A meeting of the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet has approved a technical supplementary grant of Rs200 million for the operationalisation of the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) Secretariat.
The meeting of the ECC dated July 20, 2023 (Thursday), presided over by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar was submitted a summary by the Prime Minister Office Special Investment Facilitation Council Secretariat. The ECC was informed that in a meeting held on Friday, 2nd June 2023 with regard to attracting investment from the GCC countries in the fields of defence, agriculture, mineral, IT and energy, the prime minister has constituted the SIFC which has three tiers which are, (i) Apex Committee-SIFC (ii) Executive Committee-SIFC, and (iii) Implementation Committee-SIFC.
The Secretariat of the SIFC has been established on the second floor of the Prime Minister’s Office, and necessary officers from the different ministries have been posted.
However, the Secretariat has yet not been able to become operational due to the non-allocation of budget, which is imperative for handling the day-to-day activities of the council’s secretariat. The matter of allocation of budget for the SIFC Secretariat came under discussion at the level of Apex, Executive and Implementation Committees of the SIFC and it has been decided that allocation of budget for the SIFC Secretariat may be made available on an immediate basis for operationalisation of the Secretariat.
A supplementary grant of Rs200 million for the Secretariat is imperative for the operationalisation of the SIFC Secretariat.
The ECC was requested for approval of the technical supplementary grant of Rs200 million for the SIFC Secretariat along with a waiver on the purchase of banned goods for its operationalisation, which has been established to attract investment from the GCC countries in the fields of defence, agriculture, mineral, IT, and energy.
The ECC granted approval of Rs200 million for the operationalisation of the SIFC.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023