KARACHI: Lasbela Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Ismail Suttar has urged the government to declare Hub Industrial and Trading Estate (HITE) Phase 2 as a Special Economic Zone (SEZ).
In a statement, he said that SEZs are designated areas with special economic regulations which are conducive to foreign direct investment. The economic activities in these well defined geographic areas are promoted by a set of policy measures not applicable to the rest of the country like receiving tax incentives and the opportunity to pay lower tariffs, he added.
“We have seen China undergo an exponential economic growth by executing this idea and now it has more than 38 such zones in the country. Pakistan has established SEZ Act in 2012 and according to the law, the federal or provincial governments can either themselves set up an SEZ or they can achieve it in collaboration with the private sector”, Ismail said, adding that Sindh and Punjab have three zones each declared as SEZs in their provinces but Balochistan has not been fortunate enough. It has been overlooked once again.
He said HITE Phase 1 in Balochistan started with only a couple of industries and over a quarter of a century the area saw rapid growth and now consists of more than 300 industries including the industries in the marble city an area developed by the Lasbela chamber and LIEDA without any government funding. He said China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is expected to be a game changer for the entire region and has a potential of $46 billion investment in Pakistan and Balochistan deserves a slice of that investment and establishing HITE Phase 2 as SEZ would ensure a share in it.
The government is considering five sites to be declared as SEZ along the western route of CPEC in Balochistan but they already have an established industrial region at their hand in HITE, he added. He said Balochistan is the biggest province of Pakistan and yet it remains largely underdeveloped especially as compared to the other provinces and the majority of the population lives in poor socio-economic conditions. Developing the area through industrialisation will bring prosperity to the province and will improve the living standard of people.
