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Development Agreement for Pakistan's Rashakai SEZ to be signed by this month
Last Updated: 2019-12-19 11:30 | Gwadar Pro
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by Mehtab Haider
 
ISLAMABAD, Dec.19 (Gwadar Pro) - Pakistan plans to operationalise maiden Special Economic Zone (SEZ) under China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) at Rashakai by calendar year 2021.
 
Pakistan’s Federal Minister for Planning, Development, Reforms and Special Initiatives Asad Umar confirmed to this scribe that Rashakai Economic Zone would be made operational by 2021. The Development Agreement (DA) for Rashakai, he said, would be signed by end December 2019 or January 2020. “We expect that inauguration of Rashakai SEZ will be done in February or March 2020” said Asad Umar.
 
He said that Rashakai economic zone would become functional within next 15 to 18 months period. “We want to see labor and export intensive economic zone at Rashakai” Asad Umar said when asked about prioritize of the government under industrial cooperation from CPEC.
 
The minister said that the provision of 6 megawatt (MW) electricity and availability of gas would be ensured to make Rashakai economic zone successful. He was of the view that if the work on SEZ had been done five years back then Pakistan would be in better position today to increase its exports and fetch foreign exchange earnings through non-debt creating inflows. The minister said that although there was tough competition, they were quite hopeful that Chinese industries would be relocated into Pakistan.
 
Now top officials said that a Chinese expert team was expected to visit Pakistan this ongoing week for finalizing development agreement (DA) between Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Economic Zone Development Management Company (KPEZDMC) and China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) for undertaking development at Rashakai SEZ.     
 
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, one of total four federating units of Pakistan, acquired 1,000 acres of land for Rashakai Economic Zone for the first phase and the provincial government wanted to acquire 2000 acres more to expand it for next phase.
 
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Economic Zone Development and Management Company has established Rashakai Economic Zone in district Mardan which is 57km away from Peshawar airport, 1584km away from seaport of Karachi, 10km away from railway station, 19km away from dry port, 4km away from motorway at Col Sher Khan interchange at Motorway, 13km away from highway and 13.6km away from city center.
 
The development Agreement between KPEZDMC and CRBC is expected to be finalized soon and then this agreement would be placed before the Board of Investment (BoI).
 
The SEZ is equipped with electricity provision, boundary wall, water availability and all other provincial utilities. It will be able to locate industries like fruits, food processing, textile stitching, kitting etc.
 
Although, Pakistan and China had signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for industrial cooperation on eve of Joint Cooperation Committee meeting held at Beijing by end of 2018. The establishment of SEZ with successful model and relocation of industries from China will be the most critical part for Pakistan’s economy in the wake of dwindling exports and capability of the country to generate the required exportable surplus to come out from the existing economic morass.
 
When contacted to Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Board of Investment and Trade (KP-BOIT) Hassan Daud for seeking his comments, he said that Rashakai would be the most populated economic zone of the country. He said that more than one dozen Chinese industries showed their keen interest to relocate their units into Rashakai economic zone as it would help Pakistan to boost up exports and create job opportunities for skilled workforce.

(Editor:Agnes)

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Development Agreement for Pakistan's Rashakai SEZ to be signed by this month
Source:Gwadar Pro | 2019-12-19 11:30
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