Sindh CM approves two more special economic zones

KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has approved the establishment of two more special economic zones in the province, and decided to hand over the possession of the land to the authority concerned for formally launching Dhabeji Special Economic Zone near Karachi.

He accorded approval to the zones while presiding over two meetings on Monday. The meetings were attended by Chief Secretary Mumtaz Shah, Chairman Planning & Development M Waseem, Principal Secretary to CM Sajid Jamal Abro, Additional Chief Secretary Home Usman Chachar, Secretary Investment Najam Shah, Secretary Finance Hassan Naqvi, Secretary Agriculture Raheem Soomro, Secretary Works Imran Soomro, CEO SEZMC Abdul Azeem Uqaili and others.

SEZA meeting

The chief minister, while presiding over the 3rd board meeting of the Special Economic Zone Authority Sindh (SEZA), approved two applications under which two special economic zones would be established.

These zones include the Service Special Economic Zone. The Services Industries Limited have collaborated to set up a mega production facility for the manufacturing of tyres to serve the progressive demand for the domestic market as well as for exports to other countries. The project cost is estimated at $250 million and the targeted production capacity is said to be 2.4 million tyres per annum.

It will be set up on land measuring 50 acres in the SITE Nooriabad, Sindh. The project will export around 85 per cent of the total production capacity to other countries all over the world.

The chief minister approved a request for the establishment of a Service Special Economic Zone. He was apprised of the SEZ status for Naushahroferoze Industrial Park. An industrial park primarily based on agro-food is being developed in the Naushahroferoze district. The purpose of establishing an industrial park is to excel the agro-based industrialisation in the province as per international standards. The zone will cater to the trade and industrialisation needs of the country. It will be established over an area of 80 acres.

The chief minister also endorsed the applications for the SEZ status for the Bholari Special Economic Zone, which is Pakistan’s first private sector SES situated in Bholari area in District Thatta on the M-9 Motorway (Karachi-Hyderabad).

Its objective is to promote industrialisation in the country, which will positively contribute towards strengthening the economy of Sindh. It will be established over an area of 282.5 acres with an investment of over Rs20 billion.

DSEZ meeting

Chairing over a meeting on the Dhabeji Special Economic Zone (DSEZ), the chief minister directed the Board of Revenue (BoR) to hand over the possession of 1,535 acres to the zone so that further development work could be started.

The Sindh government has allocated 1,530 acres of land being developed as the Dhabeji Special Economic Zone (DSEZ) in Thatta near Karachi. A Priority Project under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) will facilitate the potential investors of China and other countries to either start new enterprises or transfer their facilities to Pakistan.

The DSEZ is being developed on a public-private partnership basis with an investment of over $50 billion. The project will generate over 50,000 job opportunities for skilled and unskilled youths.

The chief minister directed the concerned authorities to speed up a work on a water supply, infrastructure and external network. Multiple bids have been received from the potential developers for the development of the Dhabeji Special Economic Zone and are currently under evaluation.

The chief minister directed the BoR to work on the immediate allotment of land to the NTDC (National Transmission & Despatch Company) and the construction of a grid at the doorstep of the zone. The federal government has approved Rs3.94 billion for the construction of a dedicated grid for this SEZ under the CPEC.