Strategic decision taken by Govt. to Facilitate Investors in SEZs

September 12,2019: A delegation of domestic investors of Bin Qasim Industrial Park and Korangi Creek Industrial Park called on Mr. Abdul Razak Dawood, Adviser to PM on Commerce, Textile, Industries & Production, and Investment to discuss various issues pertaining to taxation anomalies regarding Special Economic Zones (SEZs). The meeting was also attended by Syed Shabbar Zaidi, Chairman FBR and Mr. Zubair Gilani, Chairman BOI.

The Adviser to PM highlighted the tax incentives provided to SEZs. These incentives include onetime exemption from customs duties and taxes on import of plant and machinery into SEZs for installation in these zones.

Moreover, he added that government has also given tax holidays for 10 years to all enterprises which will commence commercial production by 30th June 2020 in SEZs. The Adviser emphasized that, beside tax incentives, incumbent government has taken strategic decision to facilitate investors by providing state of the art infrastructure in SEZs so that they can contribute in the national economy by kick starting commercial production at earliest.

During the meeting investors raised issues relating to timely issuance of tax exemption certificates from FBR which are causing inconvenience and delays in taking investment decisions by the new investors. In order to address this issue Chairman FBR apprised the participants that he will nominate a dedicated focal officer in FBR who will coordinate with the investors to resolve any issue being faced in their investment ventures.

The Adviser to PM urged the investors to invest in SEZs in the priority areas which include Textile, Food Processing, IT & IT equipment, Logistics and Automobiles in order to get high returns on their investment. He also assured facilitation to the investors from BOI, as the lead coordination agency of Government of Pakistan. He stated that all the issues pertaining to taxation of various projects would be resolved and BOI would act as a single bridge between the investor and the Government Departments including FBR.