LAHORE: The Punjab government has appointed two persons, representing industry, as members of the Special Economic Zones Authority (SEZA).

With the appointment of two independent members, the constitution of the authority has been completed, paving way for it to take policy decisions on SEZs independently, Dawn has learnt.

“It is mandatory to take two persons from the private sector (industry) for the SEZA. So with their appointment, the constitution of the authority has been completed. The other represent the senior officials concerned from public sector as ex-officio members,” Jalal Hassan, Punjab Board of Investment and Trade (PBIT) CEO, told Dawn.

According to a notification, the two members, appointed by the chief minister for the authority included Mr Sohaib Sheikh, director (consumer marketing and corporate communications, Highnoon Group) and Mr Salim Hamani, proprietor, ALIEL / Gemological (gemology, diamonds and coloured stones), Gemological Institute of America (Italy). The appointment of these members will be effective immediately.

It merits mentioning that the authority had been made under an act promulgated on Sept 13, 2012. Later, in the same year the SEZ rules were also notified.

The law has enabled federal or provincial governments to constitute SEZAs themselves or in collaboration with the private sector under different modes of public-private partnership or exclusively through the private sector.

The fiscal benefits under the SEZ law include a one-time exemption from customs duties and taxes for all capital goods imported into Pakistan for the development, operations and maintenance of a SEZ (both for the developer as well as for the zone enterprise) and exemption from all taxes on income for a period of 10 years.

Published in Dawn, October 1st, 2022

Opinion

Editorial

IHK resolution
Updated 08 Nov, 2024

IHK resolution

If the BJP administration were to listen to Kashmiris, it could pave the way for the resumption of the political process in IHK.
Climate realities
08 Nov, 2024

Climate realities

THE Air Quality Index in Lahore once again shot past the 1,000-level mark on Wednesday morning, registering at an...
Rule by fear
08 Nov, 2024

Rule by fear

THE abduction of an opposition MNA, as claimed by PTI, is yet another grim episode in Pakistan’s ongoing crisis of...
Trump 2.0
Updated 07 Nov, 2024

Trump 2.0

It remains to be seen how his promises to bring ‘peace’ to Middle East reconcile with his blatantly pro-Israel bias.
Fait accompli
07 Nov, 2024

Fait accompli

A SLEW of secretively conceived and hastily enacted legislation has achieved its intended result: the powers of the...
IPP contracts
07 Nov, 2024

IPP contracts

THE government expects the ongoing ‘negotiations’ with power producers aimed at revising the terms of sovereign...