Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Pervez Khattak attended a ceremony conducted for signing of four major agreements between the government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Frontier Works Organization (FWO) at the Chief Minister Secretariat Peshawar. The agreements valued $10.86 billion equivalent to Rs.1173 billion that included Peshawar Model/Smart City Township and KP China Investment Plan (KPCIP)-M1 City Nowshera, three hydro power plants in Chitral, one cement plant at Haripur and one state of the art Oil Refinery at Karak.
The signing ceremony of agreements for the four mega projects was attended by Lt. General Muhammad Afzal DG FWO, Lt. General Khalid Asghar Engineering Chief and other high ups of KP government.
Later briefing the media-men, the Chief Minister said that these projects pitched the highest ever investment in the province. Provincial government had started negotiations with Frontier Works Organization some six month back for undertaking these four mega projects. Provincial government, he said, today signed four agreements with Frontier Works Organization that will bring a total of 10.86 billion US dollar equivalent to Pakistani Rs. 1173 billion, he added.
Sharing details with the press, the Chief Minister said the provincial government had made up its mind to construct a modern housing scheme in Peshawar over a land of 108000 Kanals, few times bigger than modern Hayatabad Township and another (KPCIP)-M1 City on Motorway over an area of 80000 Kanals. Both the schemes would cost $ 4.6 Billion and $ 4.4 Billion respectively. He said that the construction of housing facilities was necessitated by the growing chances of investment in the backdrop of KP China Investment Plan (KPCIP).
The Chief Minister said that both the schemes would provide housing space for a population of 10 lac with commercial and modern facilities within these housing projects. The provincial government, he added would get a net profit of Rs. 50 billion without investing a single penny in both the housing schemes. He said that the housing schemes were necessary because of the upcoming foreign and domestic investment in the region.
Regarding three hydro power projects, Chief Minister said that the projects costing $1110 million would generate 600 mega watt of electricity, overcoming the shortage of electricity and meeting the growing need for the upcoming industrialization process. The province needed electricity for its industrialization process following investment agreements with the foreign investors. The provincial government, he said would get a reasonable share in the hydro power projects without making any investment in these projects.
Pervez Khattak said that the agreement for the Oil Refinery was another landmark step. The FWO would construct an Oil Refinery costing $600 million that will produce 40000 barrels per day and this will lead to encourage more refineries in the province including the expansion of this one. He said that the forth agreement was for the cement plant in Haripur with an investment of $160 million and hoped the provincial government would get a reasonable profit through it.
The Chief Minister said these are the solid steps his government took for encouraging investment in the province. The province had natural advantages and a number of spots and areas that his government opened up for both domestic and foreign investors. The government’s pro investment policy encouraged the investors and they are storming to invest in KP. He reminded that the government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa would get net profit in all these areas without investing a single penny. This is a new history in the beginning in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa that would widen the fiscal space of the province and at the end of the day the province would stand on its own feet, he added.