‘CPEC SEZs open for investment to all investors’

Islamabad : Minister of State and Chairperson, Board of Investment, Azfar Ahsan, has said that the industrial cooperation chapter of CPEC is all-inclusive in nature and open for third country participation, and all Special Economic Zones (SEZs), including CPEC SEZs, are open for investment to all investors, whether domestic or foreign, with equal treatment.

Mr. Ahsan was speaking at an international conference on ‘CPEC: challenges, opportunities, and the way forward’ at the Institute of Regional Studies (IRS) here Thursday.

The BOI Chairperson stressed that necessary infrastructure and utilities, as well as special incentives under an effective legal framework, will be provided to all investors from all over the world to invest in the SEZs established under CPEC. He continued that Pakistan had a total of 22 notified SEZs but only four of them, ie, Rashakai in KP, Allama Iqbal Industrial City in Punjab, Bostan in Balochistan, and Dhabeji in Sindh were in an advanced stage of development. He specifically mentioned the electric vehicle, mobile manufacturing, and construction sector policies as well as other incentives for the SEZs as the government’s steps for attracting foreign direct investment.

Mr Ahsan lauded the overwhelming response to the recently held CPEC Business-to-Business (B2B) Industrial Investment Conference for Punjab.