Islamabad: The government expects the groundbreaking of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)’s Rashakai Special Economic Zone (SEZ) on November 29, 2019, a news source reported.
An official revealed that the concerned authorities will sign the development agreement for the Rashakai SEZ before the next session of the CPEC Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC), which will be held on November 6.
Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan will chair a meeting today (Wednesday) on CPEC SEZs. The official said that the PM will issue special instructions for the provision of utilities to the SEZs during the ongoing fiscal year. He added that the government would consider special incentives for the export-oriented or import-substituting industries in the proposed economic zones. He revealed that these incentives will not be uniform but based on the volume of the exports or import substitutions.
Recently, the federal government had decided to revise its incentives for SEZs under CPEC to offer them better legal backing and other benefits. In this regard, it had also begun the consultative process to identify and resolve any pending issues.
The official stated that the relevant authorities have expedited work to provide electricity and gas to the SEZs. He added that PM Khan was likely to direct the Planning Ministry to release funds worth PKR 2.8 billion during the current financial year’s remaining eight months for the provision of electricity to five SEZs under CPEC.
The government will set up a total of nine SEZs under the CPEC initiative. According to sources, three of these are in the advanced stages of development.
