ISLAMABAD, June 1: Underpinned by KP industrial policy 2020-23, the newly launched Rashakai Special Economic Zone (RSEZ) is set to be in high gear to galvanize billion-dollar foreign investment through incentives and concession models, high-tech development parameters, accelerated industrialization, and export-oriented economic activities.

According to a Gwadar Pro's report, the enforcement of a 3-year industrial policy that conceptualizes business and development designs fixing challenges of officialdom and traditional loopholes, CPEC prioritized Rashakai Special Economic Zone has blazed the trails of synergic cooperation that bodes well for both Pakistan and China.

KP Industrial policy 2020-23 reveals that the Rashakai prioritized SEZ is being done on Public-Private Partnership (PPP) through Joint Ventures with Chinese enterprises and various foreign companies. "Chinese labor is graduating from low-paying to high-paying jobs, along with the introduction of improved labor laws, the labor costs are also rising sharply.

The average labor cost of an operational hour in the coastal and inland regions of China is thrice the cost in Pakistan.

pressures are compelling Chinese manufacturers to look elsewhere to relocate. Rashakai SEZ integrated with industrial policy KP is the best choice for them," the policy said.

In this regard, former CPEC project director and KP-BOIT CEO Hassan Daud Butt said that after the first Chinese firm, many more are gearing up to set their commercial feet at Rashakai SEZ. Century Steel PVT LTD, an enterprise owned by M /S Fuzhou Julitaihe International Company, a Chinese conglomerate has made a debut by investing $ 50 million for setting up a steel plant in the first phase.

The second phase will likely see probably $ 100 million more investment by Century Steel firm, he added

"On the special directions of PM Imran Khan and to increase the "Pull Factor" for FDI, numerous incentives have been laid down to mobilize investors.

The fiscal benefits under the SEZ law include a one-time exemption from customs duties and taxes for all capital goods imported into Pakistan for the development, operations, and maintenance of an SEZ (both for the developer as well as for the zone enterprise) and exemption from all taxes on income for ten years," he added.

After the commercial launch of Rashakai SEZ, he said that the wait for the attainment of plots has eventually ended and added that now it will take just a month to provide plots to all the enterprises that applied through online procedures.

During the first phase, approximately 10MW electricity has been made available in SEZ and it is expected the supply of gas would be ensured by the end of the year, he added. One window service has become a hallmark of SEZs due to its primacy of one solution to all hitches, he mentioned.

As KP industrial Policy 2020-23 emphasizes fostering an export-led market, he revealed that Rashakai SEZ will promote the export-oriented industry in tune with regional competitiveness.

Rashakai is destined to grab maximum foreign investment and companies as it is also equipped with the new KPK Investment Promotion Strategy 2021-2025 that complements the provincial government's Industrial Policy 2020-23, Economic Recovery Plan 2020-2023, and Commerce and Trade Strategy 2020.

Due to its location on the motorway and proximity to the Torkham border and Central Asia, the Rashakai SEZ is expected to be the game-changer for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Rashakai SEZ stands out exceptionally in comparison to previous industrial zones that lacked a systematic framework for ease of doing business and one window facilitation, delays in the provision of critical utilities such as electricity and gas, constraints in carrying out developmental activities i.e. Land acquisition and Infrastructure Development as well as incentives.

Rashakai SEZ prioritizes industrial sectors by offering 70 percent jobs for Pakistanis manpower, promises for utilizing indigenous natural resources, bringing new technology, investing in labor-intensive and export-oriented industries, and add value to local products.

Credits: INP-WealthPk