ISLAMABAD: Pakistan plans to establish 35 special economic zones (SEZs) to facilitate businesses and industry, officials said on Friday, amid Islamabad’s efforts to boost foreign investment.
The statement came at a meeting of Board of Investment (BOI) officials, presided over by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, to review progress of various ongoing projects, according to Sharif’s office.
Officials briefed the prime minister that they had conducted a survey of the 35 SEZs under the Geographical Information System (GIS) and had extensive data to accelerate the progress of projects in these zones.
More than 200 business-to-business (B2B) agreements have been reached with several Chinese companies and memorandums of understanding (MoUs) worth $70 million have been signed, they added.
“Work on regulatory reforms should be accelerated to provide a conducive environment for business in the country,” Sharif was quoted as saying by his office.
“An effective and comprehensive roadmap should be created for the completion of B2B agreements with international investors and the implementation of signed memorandums of understanding.”
Pakistan, which has been facing an economic crisis, has been making attempts to boost foreign direct investment in a bid to support its $350 billion fragile economy, with Islamabad seeing a flurry of high-level exchanges with China, Saudi Arabia, Japan, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan, Qatar and other countries in recent months.
During the BOI meeting, PM Sharif instructed officials to set investment targets that could be achieved at the earliest.
“Effective marketing of investment opportunities in Pakistan is essential to attract foreign investors,” he said. “Construction of business facilitation centers, organization of road shows and other such measures are very important to bring foreign investment to the country.
Pakistan plans to set up 35 special economic zones to facilitate businesses, industry
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Pakistan plans to set up 35 special economic zones to facilitate businesses, industry
- Pakistani officials say over 200 B2B agreements reached with several Chinese companies, signed MoUs worth $70 million
- PM Shehbaz Sharif calls for accelerating work on regulatory reforms to provide a conducive environment for businesses
Bangladesh treads carefully as it explores closer defense ties with Pakistan
- Air force chiefs of Pakistan and Bangladesh discussed potential defense pact last week
- Dhaka says plan to procure fighter jets still in early stages, discussions ongoing with several countries
DHAKA: Bangladesh appears to be moving with caution as Dhaka and Islamabad forge closer ties and explore a potential defense deal, experts said on Friday.
Following decades of acrimonious ties, relations between Bangladesh and Pakistan have been growing since a student-led uprising ousted former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in 2024.
Talks on a potential defense deal covering the sale of Pakistan’s JF-17 fighter jets to Dhaka emerged after Bangladesh’s Air Chief Marshal Hasan Mahmood Khan visit to Rawalpindi last week, where he met with his Pakistani counterpart Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmed Baber Sidhu and Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, Pakistan’s chief of defense forces.
Bangladesh’s military media wing, the Inter-Services Public Relations, said the procurement of fighter jets for the Bangladesh Air Force is “in the very rudimentary level,” and currently “under an evaluation process.”
“The evaluation process will determine which country’s offer proves befitting for us. The Air Chief’s visit to Pakistan is part of the evaluation process … earlier he visited China, Italy (too),” ISPR Director Lt. Col. Sami Ud Dowla Chowdhury told Arab News.
“Discussions are underway with different countries. Nothing concrete has come yet.”
Talks between the high-ranking military officials are the latest development in Bangladesh-Pakistan ties, which have included resumption of direct trade for the first time since the 1971 war and the expected launch of a regular route from Dhaka to Karachi at the end of this month, following over a decade of suspension.
Though efforts to expand relations can be seen from both sides, the current interim government of Bangladesh led by economist and Nobel Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus has been “showing some kind of pragmatism,” said Prof. Delwar Hossain of Dhaka University’s international relations department.
“Bangladesh is stepping very cautiously in comparison with the advancement from the Pakistan side. Bangladesh is trying to make a balanced approach,” he told Arab News.
“The present government is always saying that the development of a relationship with Pakistan doesn’t necessarily mean that Bangladesh is moving toward a particular camp. Rather, Bangladesh is interested in having a balanced relationship with all the great powers.”
Trade and economy are “naturally” more preferable areas of cooperation for Dhaka, Hossain said, adding that “we need more time to determine” how far military cooperation will be expanded.
Ishfaq Ilahi Choudhury, a defense expert and retired air officer of Bangladesh Air Force, said that Bangladesh is “very much in need of advanced aircraft” because its military has not procured new fighter jets in at least two decades.
“Air frigate fighters are badly needed for the Bangladesh Air Force. We had some F-7 produced by China, but they stopped producing these fighters nowadays. Here, Pakistan can be a source for our fighter jets, but it involves … geopolitics,” he told Arab News, alluding to how Dhaka’s defense ties with Pakistan may be perceived by its archrival neighbor India.
Pakistan’s JF-17 fighter jets, a multi-role combat aircraft jointly developed with China, has drawn international interest following its success last May, when Pakistani and Indian forces engaged in their worst fighting since 1999.
Islamabad said it shot down several Indian fighter jets during the aerial combat, a claim Indian officials later acknowledged after initially denying any losses, but without specifying the number of jets downed.
“We shouldn’t also forget that both India and Pakistan are at each other’s foot. Here, our friendship with Pakistan shouldn’t go at the cost of our friendship with India,” Choudhury said.
“With this (potential) defense purchase deal with Pakistan, we have to remain very cautious so that it proves sustainable in the long term.”
