PESHAWAR: Chief Minister Muhammad Sohail Afridi on Sunday said that the provincial government was undertaking comprehensive measures to promote a business friendly investment environment.
An official handout said that he said this while chairing the 11th meeting of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Board of Investment and Trade at the Chief Minister’s Secretariat here.A number of important administrative and investment related decisions were approved at the meeting.
The board meeting approved the budget for the current fiscal year, endorsed the formation of various committees under the Board, and authorized recruitment against vacant positions to strengthen institutional capacity.
Directing all relevant departments to ensure a functional one window facilitation mechanism for investors, he emphasized that the effective utilization of the province’s significant economic potential remained the priority of the provincial government.
Stressing the importance of timely execution of ongoing initiatives, the chief minister noted that effective implementation of the ease of doing business policy was critical for achieving sustainable economic growth and development targets.
The chief minister stated that the provincial government was establishing a dedicated provincial power transmission line from its own resources to supply locally generated electricity to industrial units at competitive rates.
He observed that while the province possessed substantial investment potential and the government continued to facilitate investors, the law and order situation remained a major challenge.
The chief minister noted that decisions taken behind closed doors had contributed to the prevailing law and order challenges, which continued to impede the province’s development trajectory. The meeting was informed that since October 2022, cumulative investments exceeding Rs457 billion had been attracted to the province.
Over the past three years, investors availed import duty concessions amounting to more than Rs25 billion in various Special Economic Zones.It was informed that six major investment projects worth billions of rupees across the Special Economic Zones, industry, minerals, and tourism sectors had been completed, while several additional projects were at various stages of implementation.
The meeting was told that an Ease of Doing Business Cell had been operational at the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Board of Investment and Trade since 2021. The briefing noted that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ease of Doing Business Act 2025 has been enacted, while work on the supporting rules was in progress. An Ease of Doing Business portal had been developed and successfully tested, and was expected to be formally launched soon.
Integration of twelve processes from the Industries Department, Food Department, and the Culture and Tourism Authority has been completed on the portal while the remaining departments will be incorporated by June this year.
