ISLAMABAD: The Board of Investment (BoI) has finalised an incentive package to promote rapid industrialisation, a senior official told Dawn on Thursday.

The focus of the proposed policy is to facilitate relocation of industries — particularly from China — to 16 special economic zones (SEZs).

“We have shared the draft policy with all stakeholders to seek their feedback. The draft will also be shared with the Chinese technical team which was earlier scheduled to visit Pakistan in March 2017. The visit was postponed and a new date has not been finalised yet,” the official said.

In 2012, a law was passed by the Parliament on SEZs which provides the governing structure for these zones and allows both the federal and provincial governments to set these up under various administrative frameworks.

According to the official, the proposed policy is SEZ Plus — with more policies to facilitate relocation of industries.

Under the proposed policy, it was recommended to allow relocation of industries only in those cases which are environment friendly. Moreover, there will be a one-window facility by bringing all provincial and federal regulators under one roof.

The government will provide subsidy on inland freight from port to destination and mark up support will also be provided, the official said. The policy will also encourage and facilitate transfer of technology, he added.

According to the official, the package will be on MFN-basis which will be available to all investors irrespective of their nationality and citizenship.

Under the old policy, there are seven SEZs in the country including three in Sindh (Khairpur Special Economic Zone, Korangi Creek Industrial Park and Bin Qasim Industrial Park), three in Punjab (Quaid-e-Azam Apparel Park, Sheikhupura, M-3 Industrial City, Faisalabad and Value Added City, Faisalabad) and one in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (Hattar Economic Zone, Haripur).

Published in Dawn, April 21st, 2017