Industrial Boom And SEZs.

PM Shehbaz Sharif recently visited the Rashakai Special Economic Zone (SEZ), located in KP, along with high-ranking Chinese officials of the company which is developing Rashakai SEZ. At present, nine SEZs are being developed across the country. On the occasion, PM proposed the launch of roadshows in China to highlight Pakistan's potential for trade and investment, hoping Chinese investors would come and invest in these SEZs. The PM also hoped that SEZs would boost industrialisation, and exports, and generate employment. The PM reiterated that all the problems and hurdles in the smooth execution of SEZs would be addressed on a priority basis.

However, there are many operational and policy-level problems, among others, that need deliberation and elaboration to attain the aspirations and hopes attached to SEZs, especially in the scenario of the present financial meltdown. First, cheap labour has been often trumpeted as an attraction and incentive for Chinese investors. But then the question is whether the available manpower is trained and educated enough for the industries that Chinese investors are willing to relocate to Pakistan. Second, is China ready to the transfer of technology (ToT) with Pakistan and train local manpower accordingly, or would we end up importing SKDs and CKDs kits, just like the auto sector and other consumer-oriented goods industry, of equipment for the next couple of decades, which would be a continuous drain on our foreign reserves?

Third, we are presently making efforts to populate the SEZs, something which should have been started in parallel when the first phase of CPEC was launched. This would have helped to identify the potential investors and their favoured industries, which would have helped to...

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