Government sees start of Faisalabad SEZ by yearend

ISLAMABAD: The government plans to start activities at Faisalabad special economic zones (SEZ) under China Pakistan Economic Corridor before end of the current calendar year and also aimed to achieve groundbreaking of two more SEZs at Rashakai and Dhabeji within the current financial year, a statement said on Thursday.

Asad Umar, minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives has directed the authorities to expedite necessary work to achieve groundbreaking of all three SEZs according to the set schedule, it added.

The minister chaired separate meetings to review the progress on China Pakistan Economic Corridor and Public Sector Development Programme- funded projects.

Secretary Planning Zafar Hasan and senior officials of the ministry were also present in the meetings. The Minister received a detailed briefing on the PSDP funded projects. It was noted that the fund release mechanism had been made much easier in the recent months and the line ministries could had much greater independence in spending their development budgets.

The Minister said the ministries and departments must make sure that they make use of this opportunity and complete their projects on time.

He emphasized that effective monitoring and evaluation of the projects, was essential to ensure their smooth and timely implementation and also directed that a greater focus effort be made to identify innovative funding mechanisms to finance the infrastructure projects.

The minister was given a detailed briefing on the completed, on-going and pipeline projects under the CPEC program.

“The minister expressed satisfaction on the progress of various under-construction projects and emphasized that in the new phase of China Pakistan Economic Corridor the focus would be on enhancing the economic cooperation whereby business linkages and value chains would be developed, benefiting both sides,” the statement said.

The minister separately reviewed the progress of various planned SEZs under CPEC. Umar instructed all the relevant departments to expedited work on the SEZ especially those at Rashakai, Dhabeji and Faisalabad, where some work had already been done.

The representatives of ministries of Petroleum and Power assured the minister that they would provide full support to these projects and complete the electricity and gas supply projects expeditiously.