INTERVIEW
Renowned industrialist Mohsin Syed has recently been appointed CEO of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Economic Zones Development and Management Company (KPEZDMC). Hailing from Lahore, Syed is an electronics engineer as well as a commercial pilot. He spoke to Money Matters about the KPEZDMC and how Khyber Pakhtunkhwa can excel through planned and rapid industrialization under its auspices.
KPEZDMC is an autonomous organisation. It is fully owned by the government of KP and governed by a board of directors notified by the government, which has 25 percent representation from public and 75 percent from private sector in order to perform all the operations efficiently. The board of director works under a chairman while all the decisions of the board are followed and implemented by a CEO who looks after all the matters of the company.
Q. What brings you to KPEZDMC as a CEO?
A. I have great attachment with Peshawar as I have spent all the times of my childhood here. I am familiar with the province and understand the locals very well. That is why I came to play a role in the progress of the province through establishment of the state-of-the-art economic zones according to the vision of the provincial government.
Q: How do you see the geo-strategic position of KP complementing KPEZDMC?
A: KP has a direct access to Afghanistan through Torkham Border, just 50km from Peshawar. Similarly, Peshawar lies at a distance of 800km from China via Khunjerab Pass. This highly important location makes the province as a trade route zone to China and Afghanistan. It is a hub of logistic connectivity across the Asia in general and Central Asia to Russia in particular. Therefore, we can say that KP appears to be the leading province of Pakistan.
To realise this potential to its fullest, the company will motivate use of local resources for the benefit of the province. That is why the company has planned to establish world-class and advanced industrial parks and develop modern infrastructure to enhance the earning potential of the province by creating business and employment opportunities and inviting investment from local and foreign channels. It has also planned to convince the industrialists all over the country and overseas to focus on construction, production and marketing in the province while the company will take care in case they have any issues.
Q. How do you see the project benefitting the locals?
A: The company plans to establish 17 economic zones at Hattar, Ghazi, Jalozai, Rashakai, Kohat, Gomal, Risalpur, Nowshera, Chitral, Buner, Mansehra, Swat, Bannu, Gadoon-Amazai, Batagram, Jahangira and Karak areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Each will have its own board of management, comprising resident industrialists. Gadoon-Amazai Industrial Estate will be fully operationalised in June this year. Some 200-300 industrial units will be operationalised very soon. Around 1200 industrial units and one million jobs will be created by 2020. To meet the demand of labourer and address the issue of large scale unemployment, the KP government has devised the Industrial Training Program to offer specialized and advanced technical and vocational courses. This program has been started three months ago. In this regard, in collaboration with KP Technical Educational & Vocational Authority will train 30000 youth with the support of UNDP.
The company will use local resources for the benefit of the province, and every district will have an industrial estate. That is why the company has planned to establish world-class and advanced industrial parks and develop modern infrastructure to enhance the earning potential of the province by creating business and employment opportunities and inviting investment from local and foreign cannels. It has also planned to convince the industrialists all over the country and overseas to focus on construction, production and marketing in the province while the company will take care in case they have any issues.
Q: What kind of incentives will be granted to industrialists on investment in KP?
A: To attract investment, the provincial government has launched investor friendly policies e.g. the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Industrial Policy 2016 under which all new industrial units will be exempted from income tax for 10 years. Government will refund 5% interest to industrialists and give 25% discount on land purchase in new industrial parks before December 2017. Under this policy, the government will provide 25 percent refund on electricity for 2 years for latest innovative technology units and 25 percent discount on transportation from Karachi port. There will be no charges on land transfer and setting up new industrial units will not require any NOC. All the industrial workers will benefit from Employees Old-Age Benefit Institution (EOBI) and given social security services.
The Company aims at providing to investors one-window operation facility, uninterrupted power supply, sewage and effluent treatment, technical and vocational training centers, controlled access, water supply, efficient roads network, centralized commercial areas and telecom and IT infrastructures.
Fruits, vegetables, dairy, pharmaceutical, cement, beverages, and steel sectors have a good potential for investment. Similarly, due to abundance of naturally occurring raw materials e.g. oil, gas and minerals also have tremendous scope.
Q. What challenges you have faced during the establishment of the company?
A. Actually, SDA has seriously discouraged the industrialization and investment in the province. Most economic activities were disturbed due to corruption. Similarly, dissolving the SDA was a difficult step as there was a conventional mindset. However, by the grace of Allah we efficiently managed the situation.
The government plans to address the power crises for industries by starting power generation projects to insure power supply. In this regard, two 225MW gas fired captive plants are to be commissioned in Hattar Special Economic Zone (HSEZ) and Rashakai Special Economic Zone (RSEZ) respectively for which the federal government has committed to provide 100million cubic feet natural gas daily.
Q: What do you think you have achieved up till now?
A: The company has successfully set up its first special economic zone at Hattar in Haripur district with the sale of 316 plots to industrialists. They have started the construction work. Rashakai Special Economic Zone has been given to a Chinese firm.12 cement plants and mines have been auctioned under the company’s supervision which will bring a huge investment to the province. Due to special incentives by the company, there has been an enthusiastic response by investors from different parts of the country including Karachi, Lahore and some even from China, Saudi Arabia and UK.
The writer works as a staff reporter with Daily Jang in Peshawar
