LAHORE: The Board of Investment (BoI) on Thursday approved the status of Special Economic Zone (SEZ) for the three industrial estates in Punjab.

The SEZ status was approved for Quaid-e-Azam Apparel Park (QAAP) located at M-2 (Lahore-Islamabad Motorway) at a distance of two kilometres from Shiekhupura Interchange, M3 Industrial City located on Trade Corridor of Pakistan along Motorway M-3 South near Sahianwala Interchange and Value Addition City, a 225 acre facility located about 20km from Faisalabad City and 1.5km off Sheikhupura-Faisalabad Expressway.

The meeting was chaired by BoI Chairman Miftah Ismail and attended by representatives from provincial investment boards, special economic zone authorities, chambers of commerce, Fata, and various ministries, said a news release issued by the Punjab Board of Investment and Trade (PBIT).

Speaking on the occasion, PBIT CEO Amna Cheema said the newly-declared SEZs are estimated to have a turnover of more than Rs1 trillion to the country’s economy and guarantee over 2,000,000 jobs.

She said the SEZs would be completed by 2018-19 and help attract the foreign direct investment due to attractive investment friendly policies and tax breaks.

The SEZs will offer numerous benefits to zone enterprises including 10-year income tax holiday and one time duty free on import of capital goods in the zones.

The Punjab Industrial Estates Development and Management Company (PIEDMC) in a press release said the Quaid-e-Azam Apparel Park was approved as SEZ on the company’s request.

Published in Dawn, June 11th, 2016