Govt focusing on establishing special economic zones under CPEC: BoI chief

ISLAMABAD: Chairman Board of Investment (BoI) Haroon Sharif has said the government is focusing on the establishment of the prioritized special economic zones (SEZs) under China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

He was addressing the participants of the International CPEC Workshop, organised by the National Defence University on Friday.

Sharif lauded the cordial relations between Pakistan and China, saying that the government wanted CPEC to be a multidimensional initiative, which would bring foreign direct investment parallel to infrastructure development.

Read: Pakistan, China entering a new stage of CPEC, says Chinese envoy

“Private capital is being attracted not only from China but also from United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Malaysia and Saudi Arabia,” the BoI chairman was quoted as saying by the APP.

He said the government was also striving to enhance the efficiency and capabilities of its institutions in order to fully facilitate the investors and turn their commitments into actual transactions.

“Cheap labour in Pakistan will be the primary attraction for investors to relocate their industries,” he added.

The BoI head said the scope of CPEC was being enhanced to infrastructural, industrial, agricultural and socio-economic cooperation, adding that the government was keen to utilise China’s assistance in three areas; technology transfer to increase productivity, market access to Pakistani products, and uplift of less-developed areas.

“The BOI, being the secretariat for industrial cooperation from Pakistan’s side, had signed a memorandum of understanding on industrial cooperation with China’s National Development and Reform Commission during the 8th Joint Coordination Committee in Beijing,” he informed.

The BOI chief reiterated the government agenda of promoting ease of doing business in the country and its vision of introducing reforms in various sectors of the economy.