Islamabad: During an in-camera meeting of the Parliamentary Committee on China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) held on Thursday (May 14), the committee tasked with overseeing all CPEC-related developments asked the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), the Board of Investment (BOI), and the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to resolve all the issues pertaining to the establishment and functioning of the country’s special economic zones (SEZs) on a priority basis, a news source reported.
Addressing these issues would pave the way for Pakistan to reap the economic benefits expected from CPEC’s early harvest projects, the meeting members were told.
The attendees also received a detailed presentation on the projects currently underway and completed under the CPEC framework. Further, the proceedings included an FBR briefing on sales tax, income tax and custom duties regarding Gwadar and the SEZs set up in Rashakai and Faisalabad.
The meeting’s agenda also included a briefing on the modalities of banking facilities and exemptions extended to local and foreign companies. To resolve these and other related matters, the session attendees decided to take up all tax and duty-related issues regarding Rashakai and the Faisalabad SEZs with the FBR.
Addressing the meeting members, CPEC Parliamentary Committee Chairman Sher Ali Arbab said that ‘every concession and facility that signals industrial growth’ and ‘allows Pakistan to reduce its reliance on imports’ must be arranged for.
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