PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Khan Gandapur on Thursday said the province’s geographical location and natural resources were of immense importance and there was a need to fully capitalise natural resources.

“Economic self-sufficiency can be achieved by effectively harnessing the province’s potential,” the chief minister said during the inauguration ceremony for the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Economic Zones Development and Management Company Tower.

The seven-floors tower was constructed on over four kanals of land at a cost of Rs670 million in three years.

Mr Gandapur said the previous government didn’t focus on utilising natural resources but his government, since its formation, had been working to make effective use of the potential in all sectors.

He said 11 economic zones had been established in the province; work on four more economic zones was in progress, and another four were in the pipeline.

“The provincial government is providing all necessary facilities and incentives to investors to promote maximum investment in the province,” he said.

The chief minister said there were immense opportunities for hydropower generation in the province.

He said the provincial government would supply electricity, generated at lower rates, to local industries, so for that purpose, it initiated a plan to lay its own transmission line.

Mr Gandapur said that a new economic zone would be established in Katlang to make effective use of the transmission line.

He said the project would be a game-changer and would revolutionise the industrial sector of the province.

The chief minister said that the environment for private investment in the province was extremely conducive, so investors from across the country should benefit from the facilities and incentives provided by the provincial government.

He said that roadshows would be organised to inform investors about opportunities in the province.

Mr Gandapur said industries were being promoted in different areas based on their specific potential, which would bring prosperity to those areas and provide employment opportunities at the local level.

He said that special attention was being paid to value addition and capacity building adding that the investors, who undertook value addition of products within the province, would be given special incentives.

“People of the province are hardworking, but due to a lack of technical training, many of them have to do manual labour. The government has launched two major programmes to provide technical training to the people,” he said.

Mr Gandapur said progress was made on the KP Economic Corridor project, which was of vital importance for gaining access to Central Asian markets.

He added that the provincial government was moving toward financial self-sufficiency in line with the vision of PTI founder Imran Khan.

Earlier, the chief minister visited the head office of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Economic Zones Development and Management Company and formally inaugurated the EZDMC Tower.

The ceremony was attended by provincial cabinet members Abdul Karim Tordher, Tufail Anjum and Dr Mohammad Israr, industries secretary Aamir Afaq and officials from the industries department, KPEZDMC and other departments.

Published in Dawn, May 30th, 2025