ISLAMABAD: In order to attract investment in the port city, the Balochistan government declared the Gwadar district a tax-free zone and sought the federal government to grant the district special economic status.
The district is now exempt from all provincial taxes, including excise, services, and transfers of property, the provincial government announced on Saturday. Senator Kauda Babar of Gwadar welcomed the provincial cabinet’s decision to grant the district special economic status. He said the provincial government met a long-standing demand by designating Gwadar as a tax-free zone.
He additionally asked that the federal government provide the district with comparable status in order to free it from federal taxes. Senator Babar claimed that the tax-free status will allow the Gwadar port to open and attract investment. He claims that the port cities of Dubai and Singapore have benefited from their similar status. According to the senator, the construction of industry in Gwadar will give jobs to millions of people and earn foreign exchange for the country.
Gwadar’s deep seaport
Gwadar’s deep seaport, an important component of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), has exceptional strategic significance as a facility not only ensuring Pak-China connectivity but also connecting Central Asia, South Asia, and the Middle East, making it a center of future economic activities.
The CPEC project intends to transform Gwadar into an important trade and economic hub, improving regional connectivity and increasing Pakistan’s maritime trade. Because of the port’s potential to become an energy and transport corridor, as well as its strategic location, it serves as a focal point for international investment and economic cooperation, hence fostering economic growth and regional integration.
Other ongoing projects in Gwadar include the Gwadar Free Zone North (Phase 11), the Gwadar Safe City Project, three electricity projects, the Gwadar Smart Port City Master Plan, the Gwadar Tourism Project, a new management model for the Pak-China Technical and Vocational Institute (PCT & VI), a state-of-the-art shipyard project, an oil refinery project, a green Gwadar project, Pak-China Friendship Hospital, fisher community projects, Gwadar Port dredging project, Export-oriented projects, Fishing industry, Warehouse industry and Gwadar Huafa Exhibition and Trading Center.
