Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Economic Zones Development & Management Company (KPEZDMC) has announced to revive the sick industrial units in the province and support the local and foreign investors to boost the economy of the province. For the first time, a specialised department is formed at KPEZDMC which is working towards the revival of sick industrial units that would lead to a chain of economic activities with backward and forward linkages to improve the overall economic conditions of the province.
The company is addressing the issues of the sick industrial units and providing financial, marketing and management consultations. The new formulated strategies by KPEZDMC would help reviving sick industrial units promoting industrialisation, increasing productivity and exports hence creating greater job opportunities for the people of the province.
Till date KPEZDMC has called several meetings of owners of sick units to identify the reasons of closure of the business and to suggest measures in order to bring them back into production. 25% of the reported sick industrial units with issues related to governmental bottlenecks have been addressed in the last one month.
The company is working on a policy to help the owners of unutilised plots in various industrial estates to set up factories and start operations.
The KPEZDMC would help remove obstacles in the way of making genuine use of industrial plots. The company is also in touch with local financial institutions for revival of industrialisation process.
The previous government's unfriendly investor policies failed to solve the real issues faced by the industrialists prompting them to flee the province. This government's solid policies namely Industrial Policy 2015 are wooing the industrialists back to KP.
The commitment of this government is reflected by creation of Hattar Special Economic Zone first time in the history of the province granting industrialists 10 year tax holiday and custom duty waiver on plants and equipment.
Additionally, all the industrial estates will have commercial area as the KPEZDMC believes that commercial and industrial activities go along together. The KPEZDMC is already in a process of developing 18 Economic Zones/Industrial Estates, 8 out of which are directly connected to the China Pakistan Economic Corridor, bringing an investment of Rs 200 billion. 20% of the investment is foreign, bringing thousands of employment opportunities in next one year.