PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Economic Zones Development and Management Company (KPEZDMC) announced on Tuesday that it had planned to launch four industrial estates across the province in few years.

The announcement was made here during the formal launch of the company operational since August 2015.

The company set up with over Rs1 billion seed money is governed by board of directors named by the provincial industries department and having 75 percent representation from private sector and the rest from public sector.

KPEZDMC board chairman Ghulam Dastaghir and chief executive officer Mohsin Syed told reporters that the company would develop and manage world class industrial estates in the province to rapidly industrialise and create employment opportunity in the province.

They said industrialisation was a must for economic revitalisation and employment generation.

Dastaghir said the company had planned to establish industrial hubs across the war-torn province for its economic turnaround.

He said the company had four flagship estate projects in Hattar, Haripur, Rashkai and Gurguri, and four high-end industrial estates projects in Jalozai, Ghazi, Dera Ismail Khan and Swat.

Economic Zones Development, Management Company formally launched

The KPEZDMC board chairman said work on the phase VII of the Hattar Industrial Estate costing Rs1.565 billion would be launched in October.

“For the Hattar Industrial Estate Phase VII, over 424 acres land has been acquired at a cost of Rs379 million, while the infrastructure development will cost Rs1186.431 million. For the purpose, Rs400 million has been approved in ADP, while the remaining Rs783.431 million will be generated through the sale of plots,” he said.

Dastaghir said Hattar phase VII would come under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project and its proximity to the federal government makes it full of opportunities. Rashkai estate would be constructed on a land of over 1,000 acres.

He said as provincial capital had no land for large-scale industrialisation project, an industrial estate would be set up in Jalozai, another in Ghazi area of Haripur, one in Dera Ismail Khan focusing on date processing and canning, and one in Swat.

In addition, the company will also strive to revitalise the existing estates in Gadoon, Peshawar and Hattar after the Sarhad Development Authority relinquishes its jurisdiction.

The KPEZDMC board chairman said the authority would ensure uninterrupted electricity supply to those industrial estates from gas-based electricity project and under-construction hydropower projects that had not yet been linked to the national grid.

He added that smaller industrial estates would be built on the land measuring around 60 acres across the province.

Dastaghir said the company would provide facilities and incentives to investors to bring them to the province, while it would also work on an early bird investment policy.

“We’ll involve the State Bank of Pakistan in the process so that new units would have to face cash problems,” he said.

The KPEZDMC board chairman said the company had planned to hold an industrial road show in the province and that efforts would be made to launch the Hattar industrial estate in six to seven months.

He said some Turkish companies had shown interest in investing money in the Ghazi industrial estate. Dastaghir said currently, there were about 2,200 industrial units were operating across the province, with an employment of over 100,000 persons, while 487 units were closed down.

About the multiple authorities with overlapping mandate, KPEZDMC CEO Mohsin Syed said none had expertise in setting up industrial estates in the province.

He, however, said his company would be different in the sense that it would strive to arrange and provide all utilities including electricity, gas and water, besides maintaining and providing a list of consultants and contractors to design and construct the industrial units.

“We will also help them arranging technical, commercial and technical staff,” he said.

Published in Dawn, September 16th, 2015

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