PESHAWAR: The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s industrial policy has miserably failed. Due to govt’s incompetence and lack of interest, not even a single industrial township has been completed in the province. On the other hand, not even a single factory has started operations due to the same reasons.
Under the 2016 Industrial Policy of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK), it was promised that 18 Special Economic Zones (SEZs) and nine small industrial estates will be constructed to provide livelihood to the youth of KPK.
However, like its promise of making several dams, the KP’s industrial policy also proved to be deception. The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Economic Zones Development and Management Company (KPEZDMC) failed to bring even a single-dollar foreign investment. According to the 2016 Industrial Policy documents, the KPEZDMC estimated to kick-start the operations of factories in the SEZs of Jalozai, Rashakai, Noshehra, Risalpur and Ghazi. However, contrary to the promises and estimations, no kind of economic activity was observed in any SEZ. Except Dera and Hattar, no progress was seen in any SEZ.
It was interesting to note that for more than a dozen SEZs, no signs of land acquisition were seen. For the establishment of new SEZs, a budget of more than Rs30.48 billion was estimated. The KPEZDMC had, across the province, hired experts to help in the establishment of 18 SEZs.
KPEZDMC Chief Operating Officer Adil Salahuddin accepted these facts and said that the targets were not achieved due to some unforeseeable circumstances. However, he added that development of many factories had kick-started in Dera and Hattar, which will provide wide employment opportunities to the youth of KPK.
According to official documents, the KPEZDMC had to establish an SEZ in Hattar for which it had an area of 424 acres. The development work on this zone was supposed to be completed till December 2016. However, the company has sold only 300 acres of land due to the delay. Out of this allotted area, the establishment of factories has only started in 10 to 12 plots. As per the official documents, this zone was targeted to be completed till December 2016 and the economic activities were expected to start by June 2017. However, the ground realities are completely different. No factory has started its operations so far.
For the establishment of this zone, a budget of Rs2.138 billion was estimated. According to the KPEZDMC CEO Adil Salahuddin, development work of 12 factories has started, while 26 owners have submitted development maps so far.
Spread over an area of 89 acres, the Ghazi SEZ had to acquire land till December 2015. According to official documents, the development plans had to be laid out by June 2016, but it was not achieved as well. The allotment of plots had to be completed till September 2016, but it was also not accomplished as per the laid out plan. The said zone had to form economic and development units till June 2017 and start its economic activities by December 2017. However, in this case, the KPEZDMC had to face complete failure. This zone was estimated to be completed with a budget of Rs921 million.
Adil Salahuddin accepted the fact that the company had to face failure in meeting targets of this zone. However, he highlighted that the company had signed a reconciliation document with a Malaysian company and soon they will also sign an agreement. Post this step, the Malaysian company will make investments in Pakistan.
Jalozai’s zone is spread over an area of 257 acres. For this economic zone, the land acquisition process was to be completed till March 2016, while the economic activities had to be kick-started in March 2017 as per the targets. A budget of Rs2.21 billion was estimated for this zone.
Adil Salahuddin said that due to the lack of government’s interest in releasing the allocated funds, this project was delayed continuously. However, he added that Rs500 million have been released by the treasury department, which will soon be disbursed among the land owners.
Rashakai zone, which is spread over an area of 1,000 acres, had to begin economic activities by September 2017 as per the plan. The estimated budget for this zone was Rs7.02 billion. However, the land has not been obtained so far.
KPEZDMC CEO Adil said that this economic zone has been included in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and will be completed under CPEC project. He added that the KPEZDMC was not working on anything related to this economic zone.
For the Kohat and Karrak zone, an estimated area of 1,000 acres was projected. Economic activities on this special zone will start in September 2019. The budget for this project is estimated at around Rs7 billion. However, we have not seen any progress in this zone so far. This SEZ is only restricted to the documents so far.
According to the KPEZDMC chief, an oil refinery will be established in Karrak instead of an economic zone. The work on this oil refinery will be carried out by the Frontier Works Organization (FWO). The KPEZDMC chief added that there was no update on the Kohat economic zone so far.
An area of 189 acres was already acquired for the Dera Ismail Khan industrial estate. Its economic activities are expected to start in June 2018 as per the plan. The estimated budget for this zone is Rs500 million. According to Adil Salahuddin’s perspective, the establishment of industrial units is underway in this zone. However, he added that some targets in this zone were not completed due to various reasons.