Islamabad
The Senate was informed on Friday that nine Special Economic Zones (SEZs) have been identified under China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) cooperation of industrial development.
Replying to a question Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Khan said that out of nine CPEC Special SEZs, four SEZs were at advance stage of development including Rashakai SEZ, Allama Iqbal Industrial City, Faisalabad, Bostan SEZ and Dhabeji SEZ.
He said that other SEZs were including Model ICT SEZ, Islamabad, Pak Steel Mills SEZ, Karachi, Moqpandas SEZ Gilgit Baltistan, Mirpur SEZ, Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Mohmand Marble City, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
He said that the government has approved PC-1 worth over Rs16 billion for provision of gas and electricity to the above four SEZs, which are in advanced stage of development.
He said that Rashakai SEZ was being set up at 1000 acres of land and 10 Megawatt (MW) of electricity has been provided in October 2020 as short term arrangement and 50MW to be provided by June 2022, adding that gasification of the zone will be completed by December 2021. The minister said that Rashakai SEZ was a game changer for the Peshawar valley.
In a written reply, Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar said that Allama Iqbal Industrial City, Faisalabad being established at 2,800 acres of land and so far 585 acres of land has been allotted to 24 zone enterprises with planned investment of Rs136.7 billion, including Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) of $ 5.21 million.