LAHORE: South Punjab Forest Company (SPFC) in collaboration with Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) organized a pre-bid meeting/seminar at LCCI to sensitize prospective investors regarding the forestry opportunity offered by the Punjab government.
The pre-bid meeting aimed to address queries of the investors and also to incorporate their suggestions in the bidding proposal that can help to make the opportunity economically and environmentally viable for investors.
A presentation on investment opportunities in forestry sector in South Punjab by SPFC was delivered by Tahir Rasheed, who informed that SPFC is offering 99,077 acres for afforestation and range management to investors for 15 years. He further told that the land exists in five districts of South Punjab which include Bahawalpur, Rahim Yar Khan, Rajanpur, Muzaffargarh and D.G. Khan. According to him, ‘This initiative will benefit the local economy by creating over 15,000 jobs and most importantly provide sustainably farmed wood to the wood-based industry, eventually reducing logging pressure on the natural forests of Pakistan.’
Tahir Rasheed appreciated the vision of Shahbaz Sharif, Chief Minister Punjab and Awais Leghari, Chairman, SPFC, and encouraged the investors to invest in this opportunity, as it offers minimum risks with high returns. He further informed that investing in SPFC’s initiative can yield profits ranging from 25-50% and that the deadline for submission of proposals is September 15, 2017.
The presentation was followed by Q&A session. On this occasion, SPFC and LCCI also signed an MoU, which was signed by Tahir Rasheed, CEO, SPFC and Abdul Basit, President, LCCI. Through this MoU, both organizations will collaborate to promote investments in the forestry sector at large.
Published in Daily Times, August 29th 2017.
