- Chinese, foreign investors keen to invest
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government’s pro investment policies have attracted both the domestic and foreign investors and the province was open to the investors.
These views were expressed by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister Pervez Khattak, while talking to a delegation of British Council Pakistan led by Rosemari Hilhorst who called on him at the Chief Minister Secretariat, Peshawar.
Strategic Support Unit Head Sahibzada Saeed and other concerned officers also attended the meeting. Matters of mutual interest came up for discussion during the meeting.
He also appreciated British Council Country Director Rosemari Hilhorst for taking an interest and investing in education and other sectors of the province.
He said that the provincial government was ready for absolute facilitation to the investors, adding that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has become the most attractive destination for investment.
“China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has enhanced the importance of the province,” he said and added that the province is becoming the centre of trade and industrialisation.
Chinese and other foreign investors are keen to invest in the province, he added. He said that the provincial government had recently concluded dozens of MoUs for different schemes in the road show in Beijing and these MoUs were now translated into agreements.
The KP chief minister said that the province had lagged behind in industrialisation and investment because it had an inappropriate environment and there were certain reasons behind it. However, he said, the government reformed the whole system making it pro investment.
The government is expecting to earn 10 billion dollars in the coming six to seven years because of different agreements being concluded with different parties, the CM said.
The government is establishing 17 industrial zones throughout the province which would increase employment opportunities. The training institutes are being established with the help of Pakistan Air Force, Chinese companies, Frontier Works Organisation and other investment companies in these industrial zones, said the CM.
While lauding the reforms in the education sector, the chief minister said that standardisation of schools was almost complete. Staff and missing facilities to schools have been covered up and English medium schooling has been started at primary level in the province.
Pervez Khattak said that the government has already signed numerous agreements with international universities for transfer of technologies and exchange of faculty. An agreement with Tsinghua University, Beijing has been concluded recently.
The British Council country director appreciated the reforms of the provincial government.