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THIS is apropos the news ‘US to revive duty-free zones in Pakistan, Afghanistan’ (April 30) which talked about the possible introduction of a bill in the US Senate for funding duty-free industrial zones in regions bordering Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Having observed the fate of some earlier similar adventures on the Pakistan side of the border over the last 50 years, most funded by the Pakistan government and some by donors, like the USAID, the introduction of the proposed bill in the US Senate can likely lead to another round of disaster.
The first serious set of industrial development interventions in areas along the Pakistan-Afghan border took place during the Bhutto period, wisely disbanded in the early 2000s. Industrial projects were undertaken in most of the former tribal agencies by the now-defunct Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) Development Corporation.