National industrialization and bureaucratic tact

The CEO of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Economic Zones Development & Management Company (KP-EZDMC), has told the media that the setting up of 9 new economic zones in the province within a short time span of two years has turned the dream of industrialization into a reality. He said that currently, five more economic zones including Daraban SEZ, Buner Marble City, Salt & Gypsum City Karak, Mansehra EZ, and Katlang EZ along with one Special Economic Zone (SEZ) are in the pipeline. The Chief Executive of the company claimed that these initiatives will bring an industrial investment of Rs.338 billion in existing and newly launched economic zones in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. While these projects will help increase exports, reduce imports, and ultimately strengthen the economy of the province in the long run.

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Economic Zones Development & Management Company (KP-EZDMC) is a state-owned business management company that is working to facilitate entrepreneurs, businessmen, and industrialists to establish their industries and promote their businesses in the government-established economic zones. The company offers unprecedented incentives to businessmen including allotment of plots in the Economic Zones, exemption of all taxes on imports of machinery along with a full waiver of all taxes on income from that industrial unit for the next ten fiscal years with other benefits including facilitation in getting a loan from banks and getting registration/ documentation through one window operation in a short time.

In fact, distributing government land to the industrialists and pushing them to establish industrial units is not such a huge task because Pakistani businessmen are used to getting industrial plots, issuing loans from the banks, and later abjuring those loans on the plea of business loss. While several bureaucrats have decorated their careers through flashy schemes but still most of the plots in our industrial zones are vacant or the owners had abandoned their projects before completion. The nation extends massive incentives to businessmen so the industry provides jobs to the public, increase exports and generate valuable reserve to support the national economy. If our industry could not realize this national dream then all those tall claims are useless. Hence, the true validity of the KP-EZDMC’s endeavors would be evident when those SEZs will operate to their full potential.