MUZAFFARABAD: The Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) government on Friday unveiled a massive package for investors, offering them free of cost land, special relaxation in income and sales tax up to 25 years and some other facilities.

The package was spelt out by AJK Minister for Finance and Inland Revenue Abdul Majid Khan at a press conference. He was accompanied by AJK Central Board of Revenue (CBR) chairman Raja Amjad Pervaiz Ali Khan and other senior officials.

“Previously, many industrial units wrapped up their operations here due to the imposition of education cess. Now the government wants to bring back investors by creating an environment conducive for industrialisation,” Mr Khan said.

He said the package had two categories and would be applicable to the units established in any part of AJK between Dec 1, 2022 and June 30, 2024.

Offers free of cost land, relaxation in income, sales tax up to 25 years

Giving details, he said the industrial undertakings, whether established in the designated industrial estates or at any other place in AJK, would be charged zero income tax and sales tax on goods for the first five years.

They will have to pay 25pc, 50pc and 75pc of the prevailing taxes from 6th to 10th year, from 11th to 15th year and from 16th to 20th year, respectively, he said, adding, they will be charged normal prevailing taxes from the 21st year.

In the second category, the same package would be extended up to the 25th year of the establishment of business ventures, and they would be charged normal prevailing taxes from the 26th year, Mr Khan said.

With a complete tax holiday in the first 10 years, the second [25 years] package would apply to the investments in the information technology (IT), cottage industry, dairy, poultry and tourism sectors, he added.

He said investors in these sectors would get plots, whether in the industrial estates or outside, free of cost, as the amount of lease would be paid up by the government.

He announced that the government would develop IT Parks at three divisional headquarters in Muzaffarabad, Mirpur and Rawalakot, where the government would also build prefabricated physical infrastructure from its own budget for each unit.

The investors in the IT sector would have to export their products or services after three years, he said.

Responding to questions, the AJK minister said that facilitation centres would be established in Muzaffarabad and Mirpur to issue ‘no objection certificates’ to the intending investors through a one-window operation.

He said the government was also going to launch a crash programme to reclaim plots and places which had been obtained for industrial purposes but used otherwise.

“The main objective of the government is to eliminate unemployment and bring prosperity in the state,” he said, adding, with the special efforts of Prime Minister Ilyas, members of Pakistan’s third largest Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry had recently visited Muzaffarabad and signed MoUs with different government departments.

He said AJK officials would soon visit business chambers of Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar, Sialkot to ascertain their suggestions and proposals to make the environment more convenient and favourable for investment.

Published in Dawn, November 26th, 2022