PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Mahmood Khan on Friday directed officials of the Board of Investment of Trade (BOIT) to begin the paperless one-window service for investors in the province.

He issued the directions during a BOIT meeting here, which was attended by special assistant on local government Kamran Khan Bangash, finance and industries secretaries, board members and other officials.

A statement issued here said the proposed digital one-window system would provide all the private investment related services of various departments to investors.

The chief minister stressed the need for the establishment of small industrial units in those areas of the province, where the government has established hydropower stations for easy supply of electricity to industrial units.

He said the government through wheeling system would provide electricity generated by it from own resources to the local industries at subsidised rates to encourage private sector investors to generate the maximum employment opportunities to the people.

The meeting was briefed about the performance of BOIT, progress on the implementation of the decisions taken in the last board meeting, formulation of new regulations and policies, ongoing projects, future course of action and other issues.

The meeting approved new regulations, organogram, five year strategy and action plan of BOIT.

It also approved the draft of the board’s revised industrial policy, which will be presented to the cabinet for final approval.

The participants also approved extension in the contract of board employees and hiring of some essential staff, including director (finance), manager (special economic zones), manager (regulations) and manager (infrastructure) subject to the fulfillment of codal formalities for the capacity building of the board.

Regarding implementation on the decisions made by the board in the last meeting, the participants were told that the KP Special Economic Zones Authority had been handed over to the BOIT, while the Hattar Special Economic Zone Committee had been re-constituted.

Also, SOPs for SEZA will be presented to the relevant board for approval, whereas regulations for Rashakai Special Economic Zone have been finalised.

According to the statement, the meeting was told that the BOIT worked as a focal point for the promotion of trade activities with Afghanistan and that it was making efforts to open the Ghulam Khan border, Angor Adda and other frequent routes to promote trade with Afghanistan.

Published in Dawn, July 25th, 2020