ISLAMABAD - Chinese President Xi Jinping to inaugurate CPEC phase II mega project in Pakistan.
Rashkai Special Economic Zone of China Pakistan Economic Corridor would finally be inaugurated in May or early June by Chinese President Xi Jinping, who is planning a visit to Pakistan by mid of this year.
This was disclosed by the Board of Investment (BoI) Secretary Omer Rasul while addressing a ‘Dialogue on Industrial Cooperation under CPEC and SEZs Framework’ on Tuesday.
“Since a successful contract between the Economic Zones Development and Management Company and the state-owned China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) has been signed to develop the Rashkai Special Economic Zone (RSEZ), the work on the first SEZ under CPEC will start in a month,” the BoI secretary said.
He said the government would ensure availability of utility services along with the infrastructure at the SEZ in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa within next one month while practical work on the first phase of the zone would be started by the mid of this year.
“We are committed to providing over 60 MW to the zone in one year,” he said, adding that the Punjab government was also doing good job on development of M3 SEZ in Faisalabad.
He said among the three priority zones, Dhabeji SEZ would be the best zone because of its location.
He admitted that bureaucratic hurdles, complicated procedures of approving the project and PC-I, involvement of multiple departments in the execution of the project and fear of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) were among the major hurdles which cause delays in the execution of any project in the country.
As per the plan, Rashakai SEZ, located in Nowshera district, will be spread over 778 acres of land and will be developed in three phases over six years.
It was earlier planned to be inaugurated in November 2019 but delayed for the absence of utility services and contract with the Chinese developer.