KARACHl: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah said on Monday that his government wanted to facilitate Japanese companies and for this purpose it had allocated 2,000 acres of land in Karachi for setting up the Japan Special Economic Zone.

He said this during a meeting with the country director of the Japan External Trade Organisation (Jetro), Karou Shiraishi, at Chief Minister House.

He said that the land was allocated along the National Highway, where all necessary infrastructure facilities would be provided to Japanese companies.

He also told the Jetro`s chief in Pakistan that his government had given a 10-year tax holiday for foreign investment.

`Though we encourage each type of investment, labour-oriented investment would not only be welcomed but facilitated at large to minimise the unemployment and increase the purchasing power of the people in Sindh, he said.

The provincial government, he said, had also established a separate organization the Sindh Board of Investment (SBOI) to encourage and facilitate the investors.

The Jetro official said on the occasion that his organisation gave support to Japanese companies in exploring business and investment opportunities throughout world.

He said that managing study on potential projects, creating awareness, organising business matching events and trade fairs and visits of business delegations were the main functions of his organisation.

He said that a Japanese company, Yamaha, had agreed to invest $150 million for establishment of a manufacturing plant at the special economic zone, Bin Qasim.

He said that another company, Marubeni Itochu, had also signed an agreement to establish a new steel processing company in the Bin Qasim industrial park with an annual processing capacity of approximately 70,000 tonnes.