ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has directed authorities to take “all possible” measures to provide land, electricity and gas connections as well as tax incentives to attract more Chinese companies to invest in the special economic zones (SEZs) in Pakistan, his office said on Monday.
The directives were issued at a meeting PM Khan presided over in Islamabad on facilitating Chinese investors in Pakistani SEZs. It was attended by China’s Ambassador to Pakistan Nong Rong, Pakistani Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin, Planning Minister Asad Umar, PM’s aide on China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Khalid Mansoor and other officials.
The development comes after PM Khan’s assurance to several Chinese business leaders last month that he would hold monthly meetings to “review progress regarding issues faced by Chinese investors.”
“Pakistan needs investment to accelerate industrialization,” he told participants of Monday’s meeting in Islamabad. “It is critical to create maximum employment opportunities for our growing population, 65 percent of which is under the age of 35.”
The attendees were informed that out of a total of 27 SEZs in Pakistan, work on five industrial zones in Sindh’s Dhabeji, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Rashakai, Bostan in Balochistan, Allama Iqbal Industrial City in Punjab and Balochistan’s Gwadar was in full swing.
“An effective one-window operation facility is being set up at each of these SEZs and a facilitation center in the CPEC Authority to resolve all issues of potential Chinese investors under one roof,” the PM’s office said in a statement.
In a Twitter post, Chinese Ambassador Nong said a successful webinar, titled “Political Economy of Pakistan and Business Environment,” had attracted nearly 200 participants from Chinese companies on Sunday.
“It has enhanced mutual understanding and strengthened their confidence in a win-win cooperation between Chinese and Pakistani business communities,” he said.
Pakistan offers ‘all possible’ utility, tax incentives to attract more Chinese investment
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Pakistan offers ‘all possible’ utility, tax incentives to attract more Chinese investment
- Prime Minister Imran Khan says his country needs investment to accelerate industrialization
- It is vital to creating employment opportunities in South Asian nation of roughly 220 million
At ECO meeting, Pakistan proposes ‘Regional Innovation Hub’ to curb natural disasters
- Pakistan hosts high-level 10th ECO Ministerial Meeting on Disaster Risk Reduction in Islamabad
- Innovation hub to focus on early warning technologies, risk informed infrastructure planning
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has proposed to set up a “Regional Innovation Hub on Disaster Risk Reduction” that focuses on early warning technologies and risk informed infrastructure planning, the Press Information Department (PID) said on Wednesday, as Islamabad hosts a high-level meeting of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO).
The ECO’s 10th Ministerial Meeting on Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) is being held from Jan. 21-22 at the headquarters of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) in Pakistan’s capital.
The high-level regional forum brings together ministers, and senior officials from ECO member states, representatives of the ECO Secretariat and regional and international partner organizations. The event is aimed to strengthen collective efforts toward enhancing disaster resilience across the ECO region, the PID said.
“Key agenda items include regional cooperation on early warning systems, disaster risk information management, landslide hazard zoning, inclusive disaster preparedness initiatives, and Pakistan’s proposal to establish a Regional Innovation Hub on Disaster Risk Reduction, focusing on early warning technologies, satellite data utilization, and risk-informed infrastructure planning,” the statement said.
The meeting was attended by delegations from ECO member states including Pakistan, Türkiye, Azerbaijan, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Representatives of regional and international organizations and development partners were also in attendance.
Discussions focused on enhancing regional coordination, harmonizing disaster risk reduction frameworks, and strengthening collective preparedness against transboundary and climate-induced hazards impacting the ECO region, the PID said.
ECO members states such as Pakistan, Türkiye, Afghanistan and others have faced natural calamities such as floods and earthquakes in recent years that have killed tens of thousands of people.
Heavy rains triggered catastrophic floods in Pakistan in 2022 and 2025 that killed thousands of people and caused damages to critical infrastructure, inflicting losses worth billions of dollars.
Islamabad has since then called on regional countries to join hands to cooperate to avert future climate disasters and promote early warning systems to avoid calamities in future.
