Staff Reporter
Islamabad
Prime Minister Imran Khan on Saturday congratulated the Minister of Maritime Affairs Ali Zaidi and the ministry for finalising ‘Blue Economy’ policy to revitalise country’s shipping sector.
PM Imran said on Twitter that the new policy would create more employment opportunities which would help Pakistan fulfil its “enormous maritime potential”. The On Twitter, the prime minister said the new policy would help save valuable foreign exchange of Pakistan and create more employment opportunities for country’s seafarers.
“We will ensure Pakistan fulfills its enormous maritime potential,” the prime minister resolved.
The Blue Economy concept encompasses many industries like ports, shipping companies, energy, renewable energy, fisheries, maritime transportation, tourism, climate change and waste management besides others.
Prime Minister Imran Khan had declared the year 2020 as the Year of Blue Economy to gain maximum advantage of the blue economy resources. On August 7, the federal government announced the new shipping policy aimed at boosting the maritime sector, cutting the country’s annual freight bill of $5 billion and reducing reliance on the international shipping lines for trade.
Minister Zaidi told a joint press conference with Adviser to Prime Minister on Commerce and Investment Razak Dawood that the new policy would expand the maritime sector and earn foreign exchange for the country.
The new policy offers various incentives, including exemption from federal tax on the Pakistan resident ship-owning companies for 10 years, while the ships sailing under the Pakistani flag would be given preference in berthing at the country’s ports.
According to the new policy, imports by the shipping companies of small and large ships in Pakistan will be exempted from customs duty until 2030. The incomes from these ships until that period would also be exempted from sales tax and income tax.
After five years, the minister said, Pakistan resident ship owning companies would pay $1 per GRT annually on the income from vessels’ operation. He added: “No federal tax will be levied to the detriment of Pakistan resident ship-owning companies during the exemption period.”
The minister said that vessels, under the Pakistani flag, would be provided priority berthing at all Pakistani ports, while no preference would be given to the Pakistan National Shipping Corporation in private sector cargo. He said that the shipping companies could now take advantage of the liberal fiscal concessions and low mark-up rates offered by the State Bank of Pakistan under its Long-Term Finance Facility to acquire ships, carrying the Pakistan flag.
Defining the Pakistan resident ship-owning company, the minister told a questioner that it would be a company which was registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan and had its own seaworthy vessels registered under the Pakistani flag.
According to the minister both domestic and foreign investors could avail these facilities. The SBP would provide long-term financing facility for the purchase of cargo ships, he said. “This policy will also benefit the fishermen,” he added.
