Special economic zones (SEZs) will help enhance exports by $1 billion to $1.5 billion per annum in the short-run by ensuring effective and comprehensive planning. Talking to a delegation of Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) led by its Senior Vice President Shahzad Nasir on Friday, Faisalabad Industrial Estate Development and Management Company (FIEDMC) Chief, Mian Kashif said that FIEDMC a successful entity of combination of public private sectors partnership and first ever state of the art will ultimately turn into an economic engine of country progress through CPEC initiatives.
He said Prime Minister Imran Khan has directed all the departments concerned to remove hurdles in the way of development of SEZs and establish them on priority basis. He said almost hundred percent plots in M-3 Industrial Estate have already been sold out while hundreds of units have become operational and were playing their role in providing exportable surplus in addition to accommodating thousands of workers.
Mian Kashif said that the industrial city would house more than 400, textile, steel, pharmaceutical, engineering, chemical, food processing, plastic and agriculture appliances units in addition to providing jobs to 250 thousand workers. He claimed that the city was also expected to attract Rs400 billion local and foreign direct investments which would help Pakistan to stabilize its economy.
He further said that Faisalabad was strategically located in the heart of Pakistan and was flanked by two motorways passing from its eastern and western sides. He said that this city has a unique privilege to contribute 60 percent towards textile exports and 45 percent towards total exports of the country. The city is not only restricted to textile which was its iconic identification but hundreds of SMEs hailing from chemicals, steel, food processing and others were also playing their role in the overall economy of Pakistan, he added.
FIEDMC Chairman further said investors from China, Turkey, Korea and Britain have invested US$1.10 billion in Pakistan. These investors expressed their eagerness to explore the possibility of investment in diverse sectors of Pakistan especially in ceramics, chemicals, steel, food processing and automobiles, he said.
A number of Chinese industries have started pumping investment in SEZs and apparently the reason behind this is that the production cost in China has increased and another factor which is making Pakistan one of the beneficiaries of on-going US China trade war, he added.