Incentive package for petrochemical unit at Pakistan's Port Qasim likely to get approved

01-Jul-08

Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet is likely to approve an incentive package for a petrochemical unit to be established at Port Qasim, Pakistan, with an investment of 1.470 bln euros. A private company in collaboration with foreign invertors is believed to have proposed the setting up of petrochemical unit at Karachi and has asked for incentives as well as tariff protection of 20% against the imports of similar items in Pakistan, along with duty and tax-free import of plant, machinery and allied items. It is reported that the company will invest Euro 470 mln in first phase for producing Polyethylene (PE), Polypropylene (PP). In the second phase an investment of Euro 1 bln would be made to establish a Naphtha cracker and few other products. The investor has asked the government to ensure a 20% import duty gap between raw materials imported by proposed unit and final products imported in to Pakistan so that a reasonable tariff protection is available to the investor.