ISLAMABAD, Aug 10: A seven-member technical team of the United States has arrive here to start consultation for finalising modalities and procedures for the establishment of reconstruction opportunity zones (ROZs) in the least developed districts, including the quake-hit areas of NWFP and Azad Kashmir, for the export of duty-free products to the United States.
A senior commerce ministry official told Dawn on Thursday that the US team would interact with all the relevant stakeholders to identify potential areas for the zones, products to be manufactured and employment for the local people.
The team would work out its initial report based on these interactions within a period of one month, which would be then submitted to the USTR for formal approval and submission to the US Congress.
The ministry of commerce had already submitted a list of districts for the proposed zones to the US trade department. The ministry had also worked out details about the rules of origin, customs clearance and other logistic needs to be required for the zones, added the official.
The districts identified for ROZs include: Punjab: Bahawalpur, DG Khan, Jhang and Muzafargarh; Sindh: Badin, Jacobabad, Khairpur, Sanghar, Tharparkar and Thatta; NWFP: Bunir, DI Khan, Hangu, Lower Dir, Swat and Upper Dir; Balochistan: Gwadar, Kalat, Kharan, Sibi and South Waziristan.
Our reporter from Peshawar adds: A team of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) on Tuesday and Wednesday visited different parts of the NWFP to identify sites for ROZs, sources told Dawn here on Thursday.
The team visited Kohat, Risalpur and Gadoonamanzai to inspect the existing infrastructure and other facilities available to the manufacturing sector.
"Representatives of the USAID and its consultant visited these areas to look into the possibilities of converting the existing facilities into ROZs by improving infrastructure and other facilities," Ghazzanfar Bilour, President of the Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry, told Dawn.
Mr Bilour, who accompanied the team, said the USAID was also exploring possibilities to establish some of the ROZs in parts of the NWFP enjoying proximity with the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata).
The USAID, according to the sources, had recently engaged NWFP's business circles and conducted several studies to suggest the streamlining of Pakistan's marble and granite sector and the establishment of ROZs in Fata.