Daily Times

In order to uplift backward and underprivileged southern parts of the province, government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) has expedited the completion of legal formalities to begin work on Daraban Economic Zone in Dera Ismail Khan.

According to Gwadar Pro, DEZ is located right on China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)’s western alignment linking KP and Balochistan province. The 3,125-acre DEZ would be one of the largest economic zones of the country. The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Economic Zones Development and Management Company (KPEZDMC) will develop and manage the economic zone.

Last year, the KP Government proposed the inclusion of DEZ into CPEC. The zone is expected to be included in CPEC during the upcoming meetings of CPEC’s principal decision-making body. The provincial government has already acquired land for the economic zone and now the KPEZDMC legal teams are holding back-to-back meetings with the local administration for land consolidation of 3,125 acres in Daraban. “Land consolidation is only the last formality to hand over possession of the economic zone to KPEZDMC by the KP Government,” Faisal Amin Khan Gandapur, a lawmaker from Dera Ismail Khan, told Gwadar Pro.

He said that the economic zone will create jobs and boost the economy in the underdeveloped areas of both KP and Balochistan provinces. “It would be an ideal location for the foreign investors, as the zone is accessible from all over the country,” he said.

The planned investment in the DEZ is Rs. 56 billion that would create a large number of direct and indirect jobs, according to the Government of KP. The zone would consist of four hundred industrial units, to be set up in different phases.

Under KP Government’s Industrial Policy 2020, at least 10 EZ/SEZS would be established across the province during the next 10 years. The KP Government, KPEZDMC and China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) are developing CPEC’s Rashakai SEZ under Public-Private Partnership (PPP). Mohmand Marble City (MMC) is another proposed priority SEZs under CPEC in KP. According to CPEC official website, feasibility study of the MMC is under process. Daraban is expected to become the third economic zone under CPEC in KP.