Dubai: Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province has opened up it untapped resources to the world to attract investment.
Though Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (PKP) is Pakistan’s smallest province with population of about 40 million, bordering with Afghanistan and China, this mountainous region has plenty to offer with abundance of untapped resources which are now available to investors with attractive incentives and hassle-free one-window operation to start the business.
As the Pakistan Pavilion marks January as the KPK month at Expo 2020 Dubai, a high-level delegation from the KPK government has come to Dubai to apprise the world why KPK is now the best place in Pakistan to invest in diversified fields including tourism, hospitality, infrastructure, minerals, health care, hydropower to name a few.
Unique business propositions
“People know about pros and cons of doing business in big provinces such as Sindh and Punjab, but we are here to tell them that it is time to come to KPK as we have unique business propositions for them,” said Taimur Salim Jhagra, Provincial Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for Finance, while speaking to Gulf News on the sidelines of the KPK Investment Conference held in Dubai as part of the KPK’s participation in the Pakistan Pavilion’s programme for Expo. A large number of businessmen from various nationalities attended the event.
“We seek public private partnership to develop our province which has suffered a lot in the past due to terrorism. We have defeated all forms of terrorism and now it is the safest place to live and work,” said Jhagra.
Speaking at the conference titled ‘KPK- The Land of Growing Opportunities’ in Dubai, Jhagra said: “Keeping in line with the vision of Prime Minister Imran Khan, KPK is promoting business and tourism in the region. KPK has unlimited tourism potential with picturesque sights and scenes, national parks and mountains, historical wonders and much more, waiting to be explored. With the natural resources available in abundance and the infrastructure development undertaken by the government, it is an opportune time for the world to start looking at KP as a lucrative investment opportunity.”
Special Economic Zones
Jhagra added that KPK is building a holistic investment ecosystem with opportunities in tourism, industries, energy and power, infrastructure, food processing, livestock and other sectors. The KPK government has introduced the first Special Economic Zones in Rashakai and elsewhere in the province, attracting investors to the industries established there.
He said Marble City in Mohmand, Salt City in Karak, and Mineral City in Buner have been established while Granite and Mineral City in Mansehra were being set up to create employment opportunities.
One windo operation
The provincial government has also set up ‘Kyber Pakhtunkhwa Board of Investment and Trade’ agency to facilitate, promote and protect local and foreign investment through one-window operation. The apex agency is headed by its CEO Hassan Daud Butt who is at the forefront of attracting foreign investors in the UAE and elsewhere in the world.
Butt said Khyber Pakhtunkhwa month at Pakistan Pavilion has been a resounding success with 44 MoUs worth $10 billion signed with various investors from the UAE and globally.
Investors showed great interest to invest in projects in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa tourism, Integrated Tourism Zones (ITZs), Water Sports Theme Park in Hund, Swabi, industries, energy and power, infrastructure, food processing livestock and other sectors at the Investment Conference hosted by the KP Board of Investment and Trade and the Government of KP.
Additional Chief Secretary Shahab Ali Shah presented investment projects and incentives framework to the investors attending the conference. Energy & Power, Tourism, Economic Zones Development and Mines & Minerals are the sectors that have received the maximum amount of interest and investment from international investors.
Unique projects
Butt added: “The unique projects undertaken by the government in order to increase the region’s readiness and give all industries impetus to thrive is to create more employment opportunities for the local youth and tap into the potential of the province. Having said that, KP is naturally and culturally rich and we want to use the platform of Expo 2020 to invite the world to explore the breathtaking beauty of the region.” He said that one-window facility had been established under KPBOIT and was fully operational to facilitate the investors in KP.
Prominent among those present at the conference included: Shaukat Yousafzai, Minister for Culture and Labour; Abdul Karim Khan, Special Assistant to Chief Minister on Trade and Industries Afzaal Mahmood, Pakistan Ambassador to UAE; Amir Sultan Tareen, Secretary for Sports, Tourism and Youth Affairs; Kamran Ahmad Afridi, Director General Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Culture and Tourism Authority (KPCTA) and Javed Khattak, CEO Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Economic Zones Development and Management Company.
