At the critical moment when Pakistan’s economy is passing through an era of stagflation, SEZs are significant for shaping Pakistan’s new ‘industrial identity’, under which Pakistan is supposed to stand side by side with Chinese companies to embark on contemporary economic projects.
This was stated by S.M. Naveed, Chairman, Special Economic Zones Authority (SEZA), Punjab in a interview with China Economic Net (CEN).
The global experience suggests that SEZs are an important source for diversification of the economy, reduction in regional disparities, clustering of economic activities for complementarity generation with local industries, skill development of local labour force, transfer of technology and dissemination of know-how, attraction of local and foreign direct investment especially in the under-privileged regions, he said.
The chairman added that nine SEZs under CPEC would be a life-time opportunity for Pakistani companies to collaborate with Chinese companies for the development of export-oriented manufacturing sectors.
It will also enable firms to cluster and tap the benefits of external economies, and will thus provide an opportunity to put domestic industries on a higher learning curve.
