UAE-based company to invest $15 million in CPEC’s Faisalabad SEZ

Gwadar Pro

Islamabad: A United Arab Emirates (UAE)-based company will make investment worth $15 million in China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Faisalabad Special Economic Zone (SEZ), a senior Pakistani cabinet member said this week.

Abdul Razak Dawood, Adviser to Prime Minister Imran Khan on Commerce and Investment, made the announcement in a tweet.

Dawood elaborated that the investment will be made by Brothers Gas, a leading company in liquid gas services. “The first of the three phase investment will include installation of an Aerosol Propellant Gas (APG) plant. The local manufacturing will help reduce Pakistan’s reliance on imported APG,” he added.

The plant will also enable the manufacturing of refrigerant gasses and ADNOC lubes for the first time, he highlighted.

“The actualization of foreign investments is [the] showing of a conducive business environment which is supported by friendly government policies,” he wrote on his official Twitter account.

The Adviser also appreciated Board of Investment’s (BOI) role in investor facilitation. Faisalabad SEZ was launched last year, with hope that it would create around 70,000 new jobs within a year while it will also absorb as many as 400,000 skilled workers in four years.

According to the estimates of Faisalabad Industrial Development and Management Company (FIEDMC), more than 400,000 trained employees would be required for different departments in the special economic zones.

After successful venture of M-3 Industrial City and Value Addition City under FIEDMC, Allama Iqbal Industrial City, a prioritized Special Economic Zone of CPEC has turned a centre of attraction for investors across the globe, FIEDMC Chairman Mian Kashif Ashfaq said.

More than Rs 357 billion has been invested in the Zones and the government has announced that all investors would enjoy a 10-year tax holiday and duty free import of plants, machinery, raw material and other equipment.