July 06, 2022: Federal Minister for Planning Development & Special Initiatives Professor Ahsan Iqbal has directed the Secretary Board of Investment BOI and Chairman Special Technology Zone Authority (STZA) to remove all bottlenecks and development synergy amongst themselves to ensure that SEZs and STZAs are attractive propositions for Foreign Direct Investments, said a press release issued today.
The Minister made these directions while chairing a meeting to develop synergy between BOI and STAZ to attract more investors to the country. The meeting was attended by the Chairman STZA Amer Hashmi, Additional Secretary BOI Khashih Ur Rehman, Executive Director, China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), Qammar Abbasi, and others.
The STZA came into existence in October 2021 under an Act of Parliament and was being operated under the Cabinet Division. The key objective of STZA is to boost Pakistan’s Knowledge Economy through the development of a technology ecosystem by leveraging the Triple Helix Model of Innovation. “There should be clarity on existing laws between STZA and Special Industrial Economic Zones SIEZs, '' said the Minister while directing the officials to hold meetings and solve the issues immediately.
It is noted that SIEZs fall under the BOI which was established with broad-based responsibilities of promotion of investment in all sectors of the economy, and facilitation of local and foreign investors for the speedy materialization of their projects. During the meeting, The Minister further added that there should be clarity over the domain as to what kind of qualifying criteria for STAZ and SIEZs is set adding that technology and innovation are the future and we must attract foreign investors by removing all bottlenecks.
Professor Iqbal said that in 2017 Google and Hawaii agreed to make huge investments in Pakistan but unfortunately, due to a lack of authorities like SIZEs and STZA tape they could not set up their Zones and as a result, Pakistan lost the foreign investment. “We have to create an enabling environment to attract foreign investors at a time when the country is facing severe economic crisis,” he added.
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