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5-year tax holiday urged for new units in B'stan

RECORDER REPORT

KARACHI: The chairman of Export Processing Zones Investors Council (EPZIC), Sheikh Javid, has proposed that a five-year tax holiday be announced for the new industrial units established in Balochistan.

The EPZIC chief in letters to President Mohammad Rafiq Tarar and Chief Executive General Pervez Musharraf said that for economic revival of Pakistan, the government should put education at the top of the agenda, beside Kalabagh dam, development in Balochistan, re-construction of EPZ Authority and tourism etc. He demanded that at least 10 percent of the national income should be spent on education.

He said that EPZA intended to establish new zones in different parts of the country. He proposed that a managing director should run each EPZ unit and not the chairman directly, like other state-owned enterprises. He said he was sure that this would help EPZA management in taking quicker decisions in the larger interest of export processing zones.

Sheikh Javed said that tourism development did not mean just the construction of an un-manned rest-house or an old fashioned restaurant at a far-flung spot. Time had come when concerned quarters had to work sincerely and take visible steps in this sector so that even a common Pakistani should have the awareness about the efforts of the relevant department, which reportedly spent millions.