PESHAWAR, May 28: The NWFP government plans to establish five more industrial estates to woo investors for boosting up its fragile economy.

“Five more industrial estates, one each at Rashakai in Nowshera, Bannu, Hattar, Hangu and Kohat-Rawalpindi Road, will be established to lure foreign and local investors to the province,” said Karam Khan, director of the Sarhad Development Authority.

The plan, he said, had been approved and would be unveiled during the coming budget session by the provincial government.

For this purpose, he said, 1,000 acres of land each had been acquired for the industrial estates at Rashakai and Bannu and efforts were on to obtain land for the three other estates.

“For each industrial estate, we will purchase 1,000 acres of land. The government will also provide the required infrastructure, besides other facilities, to investors,” he said.

About the estimated cost of establishment of one industrial estate, he said the government had decided to spend between Rs700 million to Rs1 billion on an estate.

One of the estates would be set up on the pattern of the Sundar Industrial Estate, Punjab, where incentives would be offered to investors, he said.

To improve trade ties with China, the provincial government with the assistance of the federal government was establishing the China-Pak Economic Zone in the Hazara region, he said. This had been decided at a high-level meeting of the provincial government a few weeks ago, he added.

Mr Karam the government had also decided to grant tax holiday to investors in the China-Pak Economic Zone for five years to boost up local economy and provide job opportunities to people. Investors, he said, would also be allowed to import machinery without paying excise duties for five years on the pattern of the Sundar Industrial Estate.

This would also benefit China because it would get access to more markets. Chinese investors, he added, would be able to transports their goods to India, Afghanistan and other neighbouring countries easily.

According to him, labour cost was relatively low in Pakistan and, therefore, Chinese investors preferred investing in Pakistan. He said Chinese investors had installed two units in the China-Pak Economic Zone and work on more industrial units was in progress.

“We have also acquired land for establishing the US-sponsored Reconstruction Opportunity Zones in Bannu and the Shahkas area of the Khyber Agency,” he added. He said the government was focusing on industrial development in the province.

Of the five existing industrial estates in the province, he said, only one was fully operational and the others faced problems. Efforts to make operational all units in the industrial estates were also being made, he added.