THE commercial launch of Rashakai Special Economic Zone (SEZ) spreading over one thousand acres is yet another historic milestone achieved under multibillion dollars China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project. In fact it is a leap forward to take the country towards rapid industrialisation.
Rashakai is the first SEZ under the CPEC which has been operationalised and indeed it is on the success path as already a Chinese company is establishing a steel mill there with investment of millions of dollars and about two thousand more investors have shown their interest to establish their industrial units in this SEZ.
As Prime Minister Imran Khan said while performing commercial launch of Rashakai SEZ that future of country lies in industrialisation, therefore, there should not be any undue delay in realisation of those investments. The companies either Chinese or locals must be fully facilitated to set up their units in the SEZ.
A big opportunity is knocking at our doors and it must be captured at all costs if we really want to steer the country towards self-reliance and sustainable economic growth.
Hundreds of thousands of our youth graduate every year from universities and they can only be provided with sufficient job opportunities if industries are promoted in the country. And SEZs is the best platform for them.
Therefore, apart from Rashakai, work on eight other economic zones envisaged under the CPEC must also be accelerated
While China has shown tremendous interest in these SEZs, we also need to engage with other friendly countries such as Turkey and Saudi Arabia for their investments in them.
It is only through these SEZs the country can attract maximum foreign investment and bolster its exports, which ultimately will also result in enhanced revenues.
Given the importance of SEZs, we will suggest Prime Minister Imran Khan to personally monitor progress on them.
At the same time cooperation with China in the realm of agriculture will also greatly help the country in bolstering productivity of this important sector of the economy.
