PESHAWAR: The board of directors of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Special Economic Zone Authority (SEZA) on Tuesday approved the status of the special economic zone for the Mohmand Marble City.

According to an official statement issued here, the board, which met with Chief Minister Mahmood Khan in the chair, also ordered the acquisition of an additional land of 2,000 acres and prepare feasibility study for the purpose.

The chief minister directed the relevant officials to accelerate the shifting of marble factories from Warsak Road, Malagori and Shabqadar to the Mohmand Marble City and ensure the early provision of facilities to investors in all economic zones of the province.

CM orders speedy shifting of factories to SEZ

He issued directives for ensuring that investors start physical work within six months after the allotment of plots in economic zones and if they fail to do so, the allotment of plots is cancelled.

The meeting also approved standard operating procedures for SEZA for submission to the federal Board of Investment in Islamabad for final consent.

According to the statement, the meeting was informed that the federal BoI has approved the zone regulations for Rashakai SEZ, which have been made part of the already-signed development agreement.

Also, the special purpose vehicle of Rashakai Special Economic Zone has been registered with Security Exchange Commission of Pakistan.

The meeting was also briefed about the development on the Mohmand Economic Zone and was informed that 106 plots of different categories out of a total of 290 had already been allotted in the zone and that 132KV grid station and water supply network was available.

The board also discussed the proposal regarding the status of sole enterprise SEZ for the manufacturing of cement and allied building materials in Dera Ismail Khan and accorded approval for its submission to the federal Board of Investment for consent.

Mr Mahmood directed the authorities concerned to ensure visible progress on all economic zones projects and said it was among the top priorities of the government to provide job opportunities to the people by promoting industrial activities in the province.

He also ordered the leasing out of plots in Rashakai Special Economic Zone due to a restriction on their sale.

Published in Dawn, June 30th, 2021