Sardar Yasir Ilyas Khan, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (ICCI) leading a large delegation visited Turbat, Baluchistan in order to explore the business and investment opportunities for its members in the Special Economic Zone that has been planned for the area. The delegation was representing various sectors including real estate & construction, IT, pharmaceuticals, steel, solar energy, edible oil, marble & granite and flour milling. Turbat is a huge area in which a new Special Economic Zone has been planned that offers lucrative incentives for investment.
During its visit, the ICCI delegation met with Naseer Khan Kashani, Chairman, Gwadar Port Authority, Maj. Gen Ahmad Bilal, Inspector General Frontier Corps (North) and other relevant authorities to discuss with them the possibilities of business and investment for private sector in Turbat and Gwadar. The delegation was informed that the District Administration of Kech and the private sector are launching a Special Economic Zone, which is located on the crossroads of CPEC & Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO). The Government of Pakistan has recently announced opening of new crossing sites at Pakistan Iran Border to increase bilateral border trade, which will supplement the efforts to generate socio-economic activities in Southern Baluchistan by establishing processing, packaging and manufacturing units. The said Special Economic Zone comprises Energy Park, Minerals & Materials Park, Metals Park, Food Park and Technology Park. The SEZ is likely to be functional in the next 6 months. It will open new avenues of prosperity and development in the area.
Speaking at the occasion, Sardar Yasir Ilyas Khan, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry thanked Chairman Gwadar Port Authority and Maj. Gen Ahmad Bilal, IGFC (North) for providing a comprehensive briefing to the ICCI delegation about investment opportunities in SEZs in Balochistan. He said that in terms of area, Balochistan is the largest province of Pakistan with a lot of natural resources, therefore, it should be given more focus for business and investment promotion in order to harness its natural resources for the better economic development of the country and uplift the living standards of its poor people. He said that currently most of the products including dairy items are coming from Iran to Turbat and other areas of Balochistan, therefore, the Pakistani business community has a huge opportunity to supply local products to the people of these areas at competitive prices. He emphasized that the government should provide more incentives and security to the business community for JVs and investment in SEZs of Baluchistan so that with the better growth of business and investment activities, this province could achieve more progress & prosperity and play a far effective role in the development of the national economy. He assured that ICCI would play a role to highlight the investment opportunities available in SEZs in Baluchistan to attract maximum investment in them.