Pakistan Lines Up 250-Acre SEZ Near China

FTZ News: Pakistan’s investment council is pushing a 250-acre special economic zone at Maqpondass, in Gilgit-Baltistan. The write-up names agro-processing, minerals, handicrafts and wood products. It does not name a builder, a rupee figure or a start date.

According to ProPakistani, the Special Investment Facilitation Council is helping the Maqpondass Special Economic Zone along, to draw investment, hire people and back local industry. The zone is set up as a public-private partnership. The lines of work match what the region already has: farm goods, minerals, handicrafts and wood.

The paper says the point is to let local firms add value, open new shops and plants, and put industrial work outside Karachi, Lahore and the other usual centers. Maqpondass sits near China. The piece says that should help commercial plants, road and trade links, and export work tied to local resources. SIFC is lining up the relevant offices and says it wants to put newer sites in front of Pakistani and foreign investors.

SIFC’s own post, two days earlier, used the same 250 acres, the same partnership and the same four sectors, and called China an “iron brother.” ProPakistani added no cost, no job count and no date for moving dirt. On this account, the project is still facilitation./.