PESHAWAR, Pakistan – At the Dubai International Expo-2020, the government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa signed investment agreements worth $8 billion with 44 foreign investment businesses.
According to local media reports, foreign companies expressed interest in a variety of projects at the investment conference on Sunday, including tourism, industrial, infrastructure, food processing, livestock, energy and power, and a water sports theme park.
The conference’s chief guest was KP Finance Minister Taimur Khan Jhagra, who was joined by Additional Chief Secretary Shahab Ali Shah, provincial minister Shaukat Yousafzai, SACM on Trade and Industries Abdul Karim Khan, Pakistan Ambassador to the UAE Afzaal Mahmood, Secretary for Sports, Tourism, Archaeology, Culture, Museums, and Youth Affairs Amir Sultan Tareen, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Culture and Tourism Authority (KPCTA)
Amir Sultan Tareen, the Secretary of Tourism, Kamran Ahmad Afridi, the DG of the KPCTA, Rizwan Tariq, the Chief Executive Officer of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Board of Investment and Trade, Hassan Daud Butt, and others informed the investors on investment potential in various sectors in the province.
The PTI-led provincial government is imitating the UEA model to boost foreign tourism in the province, according to Taimur Jhagra, who spoke at the event.
While highlighting the possibilities for investment in the tourism sector in northwestern Pakistan, he underlined that projects had already been prepared for presentation at the expo.
The integrated tourism zones’ goal, he said, was to promote international tourism to the province, and that KP was the first province in Pakistan to build the country’s first motorway to Swat through a public-private collaboration.
The Enertech-Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA) would invest $120 million in the installation of a hydrogen power plant to manufacture hydrogen from water that will be transmitted through containers to produce electricity from it as part of the multibillion-dollar transaction.
Meanwhile, in the Khanpur area, KIA inked a memorandum of understanding for a $2700 million investment in sustainable development. The Lower Spath Gah project would get a $1200 million investment from the Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Company. Korea Electric Power Corporation is a subsidiary of the firm.
Sheikh Ahmed Dalmook-Al-private Maktoum’s office would invest $165 million in the Swat transmission line, and the Samara Group has promised to invest $100 million in a food processing unit.
Another group agreed to invest $150 million in a public-private partnership to create a ski resort near Kalam. Gezhouba Group Corporation, meanwhile, plans to invest $250 million in a transmission line between Chitral and Chakdara in Lower Dir.
Zonergy invested $300 million on the solarization of government buildings throughout the province as well as the establishment of a PV manufacturing facility. The Al Raee Group of Companies is planning to invest in the tourism industry. The company plans to invest $10 million on a four-star resort in Bahrain.
Tulip Hotels has promised to invest $90 million in solar park development, while Virtual Smart System has pledged to invest $50 million.
