KARACHI – Ismail Suttar, President Employer’s Federation of Pakistan(EFP), expressed gratitude to Israfil Kuralay, Vice President Istanbul Chambers of Commerce (ICOC), for the opportunity to present trade and investment perspective of Balochistan at Pakistan Mining and Chemical Sector Cooperation Opportunities Webinar, hosted by Istanbul Chambers of Commerce (ICOC). He said, “Pakistan is blessed with 92 minerals, however, sadly the sector has not seen real development and progress in the past 70 years”.
Younus Dhaga, former Secretary Finance of Pakistan, greatly appreciated the initiative of the Employers’ Federation of Pakistan to convert raw minerals into value-added chemicals and stated that the project is only the beginning of a very long and successful relationship between Turkey and Pakistan to create employment and unlimited economic growth. He reminded the attending Turkish investors of how Turkey had pioneered the first wind energy plant and urban metro buses in Pakistan.
Currently, there are hundreds of multinational companies, 28 are Turkish who have shown great interest to invest in various sectors of the economy, as per Younus Dhaga, and that CPEC is a game-changer for not only our nation but all other nationalities of the world.
Farmanullah Zarghoon, CEO, Balochistan Board of Investment & Trade, enlightened the attending dignitaries of the immense potential in terms of human capital, fertile land and vast mineral reserves. He shared that Balochistan is the nucleus of CPEC and the government has allocated Rs. 700 million toward Gwadar projects to materialize the many investor-friendly policies and incentives like one-time import tariff exemption, hundred percent ownership and twenty-three years of tax holiday.
Bilal Pasha, esteemed Consul General of Pakistan in Turkey, thanked Suttar on his undying resolve for rapid industrialization in Pakistan and spoke highly of the excellent role Turks in the initial discovery of gas, building capacity of human resources and in the charting of the legal framework of Balochistan mining.
Abdullah Ali Khan, Economic Coordinator of EFP, presented investment opportunities for Turkish brothers in three minerals, namely, Fluorspar, Chromite and Barite. He highlighted how their respective products, Hydrofluoric Acid, Ferro Chrome and Barium Chloride had a huge export market in the world that could easily be tapped from Pakistan, given its hot geostrategic location.
