LAHORE: Optimistic about the huge advantages of Pakistan’s textile industry, Challenge Fashion (Pvt.) Ltd is planning to invest 150 million US dollars in 3-5 years.
Chinese Textile Company is planning to construct a textile park in Lahore spreading over 550 acres. The company will start its construction from January, 24 and it will be partially operational before October, 2024.
Pakistan will earn 500 million US dollars of foreign exchange. It will also create 30,000 jobs every year after it is fully completed. At the same time, it is expected to drive additional investment of US$100 million in other supporting industries.
Karen Chen, CEO of Challenge Fashion, said this while talking to Business Recorder after giving briefing to the CPEC Punjab Media Delegation, an initiative taken by Chinese Consulate Lahore and Institute of International Relations and Media Research (IIRMR).
The delegation was led by IIRMR chairman Muhammad Mehdi and Chinese Commercial Attache Yan Yang. President IIRMR Yasir Habib Khan and secretary to Chinese Council General Lahore Chen Bao were also part of the delegation.
Chairman IIRMR Muhammad Mehdi said that four day media visit is part of ongoing series of celebrations of successful completion of 10 years of China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), an ace undertaking of global iconic project “Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)” envisioned by Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Karen Chen, CEO of Challenge Fashion while talking about the difficulties said that acquisition of high-quality fabrics is a big challenge. At present, more than 80 % of the surface accessories are imported, which greatly hinders the company’s pace of expanding its industrial scale.
Therefore, Huang Weiguo, chairman of the board, decided to increase investment in Lahore and purchased 550 acres of land, and obtained the qualification of a special economic zone from the Pakistani government. It is the only wholly foreign-owned special economic zone approved.
The company plans to build the park into the most innovative and sustainable textile industry base in South Asia, show China’s park design concept and construction standards to Pakistani counterparts, promote the most efficient and environmentally friendly automated fabric production equipment and garment production system, and spread Modern production management science.
She also said that the establishment of a supply chain cluster will help improve Pakistan’s labor structure and management. “We hope to demonstrate China’s industrial park standards to our Pakistani counterparts by creating a Chinese-regulated industrial park project.
We can enable Chinese enterprises interested in overseas layout to see Pakistan’s investment potential, and also provide project landing sites for SMEs so that they can fully enjoy the preferential investment policies provided by the Pakistani government.”
Karen said that “the tariff-free treatment of textiles exported to the EU, together with China’s Free Trade Agreement, can guarantee the price edge of Pakistani products. Pakistani fabrics exported to Africa or Jordan can enter North America without tariffs, and the route is much shorter than from East Asia.” Karen said that Challenge Fashion will continue its efforts to promote Pakistan’s textile exports.
Karen also said that in response to the call of the country’s One Belt One Road strategy, Shanghai Yuanyi Industrial Co., Ltd. invested in Pakistan in 2014 to establish the first overseas export-oriented garment manufacturing enterprise, which is the third outside the two production bases in Shanghai and Hubei.
Challenge has always been based on the technological innovation of fabrics as its core competitiveness. Its products have been selected into the national team uniforms for the Winter Olympics, and have been awarded the single champion of the manufacturing industry by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.
Deputy CEO of Pak Matiari-Lahore Transmission Company (PMLTC) Pvt. Ltd Ma Desheng while giving briefing to media said that Lahore will be loadshedding free in 2024. Lahore Conversion site of 886-km HVDC Lahore-Matiari is the first transmission line project under China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) to transmit electricity from power stations in Sindh to load centres in Punjab. It will also transmit electricity from the indigenous coal-based power plants under construction in Thar district of Sindh under CPEC.
He also said that 2023 is marking completion of 10 years of CPEC that has transformed lives of Pakistanis. “We are privileged to have played a critical role in CPEC. “Matiari - Lahore transmission line is bridging energy gap in Pakistan and facilitating its economic growth,” he added. It did successful energization for 1000 days at Lahore Converter Station, he said. About future projects, he said two more lines are under progress to strengthen energy needs of the regions.
Vice president Sahiwal coal-fired power Chen Wei briefed the delegation about
CPEC’s first energy project 1320 MW Sahiwal Coal-Fired Power Plant. He briefed media delegation about its eminence, impacts and performance that supplied over 43 billion kilowatts hours of the energy in national grid.
Being a joint venture of Huaneng Shandong Power Generation Company and Shandong Ruyi Group, with an investment of about $1.8 billion, he said that project is largest, fastest and the first environmentally friendly coal-fired power plant completed under CPEC, with the most optimal technological and environmental indicators.
Ensuring higher standards in maintaining best ecosystem, values of hazardous gases and mercury are remaining lower than the values set by World Bank, Japan, EU as well as Pakistan, he added.
Chen Wei further said approximately, power plant has supplied over 19.2 billion kilowatt-hours’ clean energy to national grid. Filling a quarter of the country’s power shortage and meeting the electricity demand of more than 4 million houses, project has won the highest honor in the power industry of China and China National Quality Engineering Gold Award, the highest award in the construction field of China, and many awards of federal and provincial level in Pakistan. Chinese engineers have also trained many Pakistani Chinese engineers as a part of transfer of technology under CPEC framework.
The delegation also visited Allama Iqbal Industrial City (AIIC), Special Economic Zone being developed on approximately 3217 acres under CPEC framework. It is operated and run under visionary leadership of CEO Muhammad Tanveer Jabbar, Faisalabad Industrial Estate Development & Management Company (FIEDMC).
It has an advantage for being adjacent to M3-Industrial city which comprises a large number of projects including textile, pharmaceuticals, information technology, and chemicals automotive, service complex.
Delegates interacted CEOs of Chinese enterprises especially Time Ceramic and Green Crockery. Time Ceramic CEO Zhang Qi informed that company has 23 percent of market share in Pakistan and introduced new technology to help grow export of Pakistan. He said 95 percent local people are employed in the company.
Green Crockery CEO Zhang Qi disclosed to the media that company has managed to exports goods of worth Rs 10 million to the UK last month, a milestone achieved by export-oriented enterprise that promote CPEC. Total woman employability in the company stands at 20 percent which is on rise gradually, he added.
The crockery was imported but now exported with the label “Made in Pakistan” a symbol of Pakistan’s prestige and a favorite item from Lahore to Peshawar and Karachi which is the fruit of CPEC.
General Manager Orange Line Metro Train Omar Chisti while giving to media delegation during their visit disclosed that OlMT achieves a milestone of transporting 100 million commuters with 99.99% time-and-service efficiency since beginning commercial operations in October 2020. Chisti told the media that the metro train had completed three years of its operation successfully.
He said that it was a remarkable project under CPEC which had been completed at almost one-third of the cost quoted by the European companies. The government was giving each passenger a subsidy of Rs7.30 to provide efficient and reliable transport service to the commuters, he said.
The OLMT CEO, Li Chen, said that talented Pakistani professionals had played a key role in the success of the metro train project. The project was one of its kinds under the CPEC initiative. China was committed to cooperating with Pakistan for development.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
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