The provincial government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has introduced the KP Board of Investment and Trade Bill, 2015 in the provincial assembly to establish a body to promote, encourage, assist and facilitate investors in the province and co-ordinate with all departments of the federal and provincial governments and other strategic stakeholders from public and private sectors for investment friendly policy reforms and sustainable economic growth.
The proposed board will be a body corporate having perpetual succession and common seal with the powers to acquire and dispose of property both movable and immovable and will by the said name sue and sued.
The board will consist of such number of public and private sectors members, not less than fifteen not more than twenty members including the chairman as a government may determine.
The private sector members will include person of renowned integrity, expertise, experiences and knowledge including inter alia, academia, sciences, agriculture, banking business, commerce, economic, engineering, finance, industry, investment, law, marketing, mathematics, statistics and technology. Such members will be appointed by the government for non-extendable period of three years.
The Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will be the Chairman of the board while Vice Chairman will be appointed by the provincial government both from public or private sector for a non-extendable period of three years.
The Chairman will preside over a meeting of the board and in the absence of Chairman the Vice Chairman will preside over meeting of the board. The quorum will be two-third of the total membership and all decisions of the board will be taken by majority of the members present and voting. Meetings of the board will be held as and when required, but once at least in a quarter.
The board will facilitate the investors by proactively engaging and co-ordination with all concerned Departments for the purposes of promoting, encouraging and facilitating both local and foreign investment in the province; facilitate government on creating an enabling environment for investment; assist government in the implementation of Public Private Partnership Act, 2014.
It will undertake sub-sectors studies and develop concepts, briefs and fact sheets both internally in consultation with government department ad through outsourcing to consultants on different priorities sectors of the province economy that have the potential for growth and employment generation and share the same with private and institutional investors including multilateral and bilateral donors; assist in identification of sector wise potential projects and prepare pre-feasibility reports of such projects whenever possible in consultation with departments concerned.
The accounts of the KP Board of Investment and Trade Fund will be audited by the Auditor General of Pakistan and within a period of ninety days from the day of each financial year, the board will cause a report to be prepared on the activities of the board during that financial year.
Furthermore, the board will one hundred and twenty days of the end of the each financial year send a copy of the annual report of the board to provincial government, which will be laid before the provincial assembly within two months of the receipt and caused to be published in the office gazette.
On the commencement of this Act, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Board of Investment and Trade, Board constituted under the executive orders vide notification number AEA (IND)3-58/2012/BOIT/14993 dated 2 September 2013; AEA (IND)3-58/2012/BOIT/14994 dated September 2013; and AEA (IND)3-58/2012/BOIT/17423 dated 31 October 2013 will be dissolved.
All assets, rights, powers, authorities and privileges and property, movable and immovable, cash and bank balance, reserves funds, investments and all other interests and rights in, or arising out of such property and all debts, liabilities and obligations of whatever kind of the dissolved board before the commencement of this Act, will stand transferred to and vest in the board.
Notwithstanding anything contained in any law or rules, employees of dissolved board, who are holding various posts in the dissolved board till the commencement of this Act, shall be deemed to have been validly appointed to these posts on the commencement of this Act, having the same qualification and experience for the said posts.