Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Pervez Khattak has said that the CPEC has enhanced the strategic importance of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He asked for a realignment and need-assessment for upcoming investment for the emerging situation in the entire belt. He added that the future of the province is bright “as the situation for investment is favourable and investors prefer to invest here which will lead to the provision of job opportunities in the province”.
This he said while addressing the inaugural ceremony of a job fair jointly organized by SCCI Peshawar and TUSDEC in Peshawar on Tuesday morning. President SCCI Muhammad Afzal, Chairman Job Fair Adeel Rauf, and Nabeel Asghar from TUSCEC addressed the ceremony. Fifty different entrepreneurs arranged and conducted on the spot interviews during the fair. Up to 4000 job opportunities are expected to be provided to skilled youth during the fair.
The chief minister lauded arrangements of the job fair and termed it a great achievement and added that employment was a great problem of the province due to low industrialization, previous location disadvantages, and a lack of wisdom in the past. He said that a worsening law and order situation in the past in the past badly affected industrialization in the province, but now that has changed and investors had been attracted to the province for investment due to steps taken by the provincial government for the promotion of the industrial sector there.
The chief minister underlined the need for the uniform development of all corners of the country as the underdevelopment of some areas could lead to the creation of deprivation. He said that the provincial government was focusing on the equal uplift of all areas of the province to ensure uniform development.
Highlighting the strategy of the provincial government for the promotion of the industrial sector, he said that TEVTA was established to make training institution effective while the government was taking steps with the collaboration of different organizations for the provision of quality training to the youth. He appealed to industrialists to come forward and assist the government in this regard.
Pervez Khattak said that the government was giving due importance to the private sector for promotion of industries and that is why lucrative incentives were being extended to investors in the province. The chief minister said that the future of the province was now very bright because of the CPEC. He said that the western route of CPEC would be the shortest one due to which economic activities would flourish in the province as compared to other provinces. He underlined the need of long term and effective planning to benefit from the opportunities to be provided by CPEC in the area.
The chief minister said that the KP was previously considered as nonfeasible for industrialization due to at distance from the sea, lack of raw material and absence of skilled manpower. “Now the situation has absolutely changed and the province has become a feasible place for industrialization due to steps taken by the government” he maintained.
The chief minister said that now industrialists of the province could compete with the industrialists of other provinces. He said that apart from five per cent concession on interest, there were incentives for women entrepreneurs, and the condition of NOC for the establishment of industrial units had been abolished in the province. He further said that government was focusing on improvement of institutions and that is why the EZDMC had formed to ensure participation of the private sector in the promotion of the industrial sector.
He further said that besides the delegation of power to the EZDMC, a one-line budget had been provided to it while one window operation facility had also been extended to industrialists in the province.
The chief minister said that the EZDMC had been asked to establish an economic zone of international standards in the province. He said that 100 million cubic feet gas as per the provincial and federal government agreed formula would be utilized for electricity generation to ensure uninterrupted supply of power to the industrial units. He also underlined the need for solid steps to reverse the brain drain from the province.
The chief minister asked investors to chalk out a plan for investment to set up exports and to do so with the help of Pak Embassies abroad. He assured all out support to investors in the province. Earlier, organizers of the fair lauded the pro-investment steps of the provincial government and announced that on job training would be started very soon in the province.
