ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal has urged authorities to resolve land and power tariff hurdles reported by a Chinese steel giant in a key special economic zone (SEZ) located in the country’s northwest, state-run media reported this week, amid Islamabad’s intensifying efforts to attract foreign investment in vital economic sectors. 

Spread over an area of 1,000 acres, the Rashakai Special Economic Zone (RSEZ) is a flagship project of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a multi-billion-dollar infrastructure project that aims to connect Pakistan’s Gwadar port to China’s northwestern Xinjiang region. 

Pakistani media outlets have reported that China’s Century Steel Group, the primary investor in the RSEZ, has expressed its frustration over the past couple of months at Pakistani authorities for failing to finalize a plot purchase agreement and ensuring power supply for its steel mills operation. 

Iqbal held a meeting with China Century Steel Mills officials during which various issues faced by the investor came up, the Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) reported on Monday. The minister instructed Pakistan’s Board of Investment (BoI), Power Division and the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to address the issues hindering industrial development promptly, it said. 

“Specifically, he directed the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Economic Zones Development and Management Company (KPEZDMC) to confirm land prices to the company at the earliest, by their demands,” it said. 

The KPEZDMC officials briefed Iqbal that the company had requested discounted rates for land per acre. Meanwhile, the Century Steel Group consultant cited examples from China, saying that land there is often provided free of charge to industries in SEZs, APP said. He stressed on the need for similar incentives in Pakistan.

“Addressing concerns over power tariffs, the minister directed authorities concerned to maintain a reasonable distribution margin and ensure that the zone receives power at the same rates as regular consumers,” the state-run media said. 

Iqbal instructed the FBR, Pakistan’s premier revenue authority, to conduct a consumption survey in northwestern Pakistan to estimate anticipated power consumption accurately, APP said. 

Pakistan has increasingly eyed investment from China and other regional allies, particularly from the Middle East, as it seeks to be less dependent on foreign aid and stabilize its economy. 

The South Asian country came close to suffering a sovereign default last year before it clinched a last-gasp $3 billion financial bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Islamabad has achieved some economic gains since then but Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb has spoken repeatedly of bolstering the country’s economy via long-term financial reforms and international investment.