Ground broken for first Turkish unit in KP

HARIPUR: Chief Minister Mahmood Khan on Wednesday performed the groundbreaking ceremony of the first-ever industrial unit by a Turkish company at the Hattar Special Economic Zone in Haripur district of KP.

Ministers Taimur Saleem Jhagra, Akbar Ayub, Special Assistant to CM on Industry Abdul Karim Khan, Turkish Ambassador Ihsan Mustafa Yurdakul, Management of CCI Pakistan and officials of Industries Department attended the groundbreaking ceremony. The industrial unit, a bottling plant, will be established by the Turkish Multi-National beverages company, CCI. It is the 7th plant of CCI company in Pakistan and the first in KP.

This plant would be spread over 29 acres of land and is expected to bring in an investment of $ 50 million and create over 700 employment opportunities. It is expected to create hundreds of job opportunities for the local population.

The chief minister welcomed Turkish investment and said that the initiative would pave the way for bringing in more Turkish investment in the future. Talking about the incentives being extended by the KP government to investors, the chief minister said that providing facilities to investors through a one-window operation was an important step to attract more private investment.

Mahmood Khan said besides the industrial sector, there were ample opportunities in the tourism and energy sectors of the province. Of the Hattar Special Economic Zone, Mahmood Khan said it was of vital importance due to its strategic location and that’s why the economic zone was being extended, adding the Phase-II of the zone would be inaugurated soon.

Turkish Ambassador Ihsan Mustafa Yurdakul, General Manager CCI, Pakistan, Ahmad Kursad, company Regional Director, Ihsan Iqbal and others also addressed the ceremony. Later, the CM also inaugurated a private sector Steel Plant at the zone established with an initial investment of $ 50 million and has an annual production capacity of 0.5 million tons.