Belt & Road Initiative to prove game changer for Pakistan: KP CM
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BEIJING: Chief Minister, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Province, Pervez Khattak said he was expecting more investment from Chinese and other foreign companies into Pakistan and his province under the Belt and Road initiative, which he called a “game changer” for Pakistan.
`To attract foreign investment, the government of Pakistan has already implemented favorable industrial policies under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a flagship project of Belt and Road Initiative and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is also offering rebates of about five percent for the industrial projects,` he said in an interview with Global Times published here on Thursday.
`Such policies and opportunities in the province have helped bring back investors to the region during the past four years, after tough times when "there was no industry and investors left the province,' he added.
Khattak, who was on an official visit in Beijing, said that meetings with Chinese investors were very successful and he saw a great deal of interest from Chinese companies in investing in Pakistan because of abundant opportunities under the "One Belt and One Road" initiative.
"We are open to anybody who is ready to come to investing in Pakistan and the projects I brought are all profitable, very attractive for all investors," he said, adding that the projects include roads, tourism, information technology and other sectors.
He said that to attract foreign investment, the government of Pakistan has already implemented favorable industrial policies under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is also offering rebates of about 5 percent for the industrial projects.
Pervez Khattak said that a "misperception" that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is not safe played a part in keeping investors away but security is not an issue.
"Those who visited know Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is as safe as other parts of Pakistan, and we make sure that we provide security to the investors," Khattak said, pointing out that the province has created a force of 4,000 trained police for investors in addition to tens of thousands of Pakistani army personnel assigned to protect the CPEC route.
The KP Province organized an economic road-show seeking investment from
Chinese companies for 85 projects in areas such as infrastructure and tourism, and it is offering support in tax and industrial policies, the chief minister said.
The province itself has signed 60 memoranda of understanding (MOUs) with investors in China, in addition to 25 MOUs signed by local businesses with companies, he added. (APP)
