CM discusses investment opportunities with Australian high commissioner

The Sindh government has been encouraging investment in the province by creating new special economic zones and offering business incentives.

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah said this on Thursday while meeting Australian High Commissioner Neil Hawkins at the CM House. The CM informed the high commissioner that his government had launched various initiatives to attract both local and foreign investment.

The meeting was also attended by Secretary to the CM Raheem Shaikh. The CM and Australian diplomat discussed matters of mutual interest, including investment, climate change and archaeological sites.

Hawkins said the Indus delta was historical and needed to be protected. To this, Shah said Pakistan was a water-starved country. “Sindh being the lower riparian province is faced with water shortage,” he said adding that sea intrusion had become a big threat to the delta.

The CM said that apart from the Dhabeji Special Economic Zone, other similar key zones were also ready including the Bin Qasim Industrial Park (BQIP) and Korangi Creek Industrial Park (KCIP), where utilities and land was available for those interested in investment.

Additionally, following the Sole Enterprise Special Economic Regulations 2020, the CM said, single enterprises investing at least USD50 million could attain the special economic zone status, with two such zones already operational in Sindh.

The Sindh Enterprise Development Fund (SED) had mobilised private investments amounting to Rs7 billion in sectors such as agriculture, mining and mineral processing, offering a subsidy scheme to boost productivity, the CM said and added that this initiative had generated an economic impact worth 10 times the invested amount.

Shah said the provincial investment department had conducted pre-feasibility studies in sectors such as stones & granite, livestock, agriculture, food processing, fisheries and dairy, and they were now available on the department’s website for potential investors.

“To further improve the business climate, the Sindh government partnered with the World Bank Group, implementing the Doing Business Reforms Agenda, resulting in Pakistan’s 39-position rise in the Ease of Doing Business Index,” Shah said.

He informed the high commissioner that under the Competitive and Liveable City of Karachi (CLICK) project, a one-stop regulatory approval system for 16 departments was in development to streamline investment procedures. The Australian high commissioner said he visited Bambhore where while recording his impressions in the visitors’ book, he spotted a message earlier recorded by Benazir Bhutto. “I have taken its photo, and it would be part of my personal record,” he said.