Prospects for Urban-centric Industrial Development of Pakistan under CPEC

Industrial sector plays a vital role in the long run economic growth of an economy. From early-nineteen century, many economies have taken up the export-led economic development policies. For the purpose they constituted the hard and soft infrastructure development policies, with an objective to strengthen industrialization in the economy, modernize export base, enhance innovations and value addition via attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) and technological transformation. These hard and soft infrastructural provisions were provided globally for industrial development, but in the late 1980s with the inception and success of China’s Special Economic Zones (SEZs) policy, the concept of SEZs become popular.
Special Economic Zones are a global phenomenon and share some common characteristics. Generally, SEZ is a geographically delimited area, usually physically secured, it has a single management or administration, offers benefits for investors physically within the zone, has a separate customs area (duty-free benefits) and streamlined procedures4. In addition, an SEZ normally functions under more liberal economic regimes than those typically prevailing in the economy.