PPP Chairman and Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari inaugurated the Dhabeji Special Economic Zone project in Thatta on Saturday.

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, provincial ministers Syed Nasir Hussain Shah and Sharjeel Inam Memon, Karachi Mayor Barrister Murtaza Wahab, prominent industrialists, diplomats and representatives of the federal government were also present on the occasion.

The foreign minister along with the Sindh chief minister inaugurated the project by unveiling the plaque.

The PPP chairman was briefed about the benefits and characteristics of the project by the officials concerned.

He was also briefed about the project’s “industrial infrastructure, uninterrupted benefits, sustainability, and creation of jobs as it would generate an investment of $5 billion and create 100,000 jobs”.

“The Dhabeji Special Economic Zone will be a public-private partnership project which ensures the economic and social development of the country,” the foreign minister said.

The objective of this project was to create a network of industries in Karachi, he added.

One of the important aspects of the project, which was a part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, is that it was given the status of a special economic zone by the Board of Investment on June 22.

Spread on 1,550 acres, the project will be developed in two phases in which hundreds of industrial units will be accommodated.

The project is being executed through a public-private partnership mode as the Sindh government has provided land to the contractor/developer Zahid Khan & Brothers while the contractor will not only develop the zone but will pay the cost of the land to the provincial government.