ISLAMABAD: Technocrats on Friday said Special Economic Zones (SEZs) can assist a country in becoming a useful part of international trade activities and Pakistan could follow successful experiences of Malaysia and China.
This was stated by several technocrats at a workshop “Special Economic Zones (SEZs) as Drivers of Economic Development” held by Board of Investment (BOI) and CAREC Institute, reported The News.
Yang Xiaohong, Country Director Asian Development Bank, Pakistan Resident Mission said SEZs are giving Pakistan the chance to enter global value chains and boost economic development. He added this could be made possible by producing value added products.
Principal Economist, ADB Guntur Sugiyarto remarked Pakistan’s 40 percent of GDP needed to transform the left-behind areas into growing economic districts over the next thirty years.
Sugiyarto said “SEZs can help Pakistan to make economic development process more inclusive across the districts and regions.”
BOI Chairman Naeem Zamindar while speaking on the occasion said Pakistan has received a golden opportunity via China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) investment and now it was essential to capitalize on it to ensure the country becomes an equitable and growing economy.
Associate Professor, Institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resource Research Dr Yang Zhenshan commented SEZs had helped China in raising foreign direct investment (FDI) to around 90 percent.
He added, to ensure efficient SEZs, institutional building is key and to extract full benefits medium and long-term impacts of SEZs should be considered while designing them.
Dr Yang said wrong SEZ strategies can damage investors, which could contribute to lower FDI and cause their failure. He suggested Pakistan to take advantage of its cheap labour and land to entice investors.
Secretary General Association SEZs, China Guan Rong said during development of SEZs choice of location is of absolute significance. He said, “It should be based on market forces, depending on the availability of resources and facilities necessary to develop an SEZ e.g. infrastructure, energy and connectivity.”
Deputy Director, CAREC Institute Dr Ziqian Liang commented SEZs were not only for extracting economic benefits, but also meant for designing innovation, best practices and knowledge transfer.
Various mid-level to senior level officers from federal, provincial and regional governments attended this workshop.
