ISLAMABAD: Chairman Board of Investment Saleem H. Mandviwalla had a meeting with Chief Minister Gilgit Baltistan Syed Mehdi Shah here on Thursday, in which both the sides vowed to make the area attrative for Investors.On the occasion the Chief Minister GB Syed Mehdi Shah said that the region has all the opportunities to become an investment hub and the present government is evolving new policies to facilitate both the local and foreign investments.He emphasized that unlike the past, the present government had given a serious concentration to the power generation, infrastructure development, education and health to alleviate the sufferings of the people that had been facing multiple problems for the last many decades.
He said that an era of development had been started in Gilgit-Baltistan with serious work on Basha Dam, detailed engineering of Monji Dam and in the shape of expansion of Karakorum Highway.He further said that apart from Tourism, Mining, Food preservation, the area has a very huge potential for Cement and Herbal sectors therefore the business community should come forward to explore these opportunities that offer a huge revenues.He also informed that the present government had given a development package to the area with a view to facilitate the investors and all measures were being taken to turn the area an investment hub.
Chairman BOI informed the Chief Minister GB that South Korean investors are interested in power generation and this investment could overcome the shortfall of 80MW of the region.He also said that “we need to develop the roads and infrastructure in the region and investors are already keen to invest in construction of all weather airports in Gilgit and Sakardu”.He further added that investment in Gilgit-Baltistan would not only be beneficial to that particular area but it would also help strengthen the economy of the country.The Chairman BOI informed the Chief Minister that the board is working for evolving a tax free policy for investors very soon.At the end of the meeting the Chief Minister assured the BOI Chief to extend maximum cooperation to all the investors who would be making investment in Gilgit-Baltistan – APP
