LAHORE: The Punjab Board of Investment and Trade (PBIT) has established an SEZ Desk, which is working to establish Special Economic Zones throughout the Punjab province.
The PBIT with the help of Industries Department, Secretary Mines and Minerals and CEO, Urban Unit, has managed to design detailed proposals for Special Economic zones to be built throughout Punjab in record time.
Three applications for SEZs were approved by the Special Economic Zones Authority (SEZA). These are: Quaid-e-Azam Apparel Park located at M-2 (Lahore-Islamabad Motorway) at a distance of 2km from Shiekhupura Interchange.
Apparel Park will focus on woven garment units, knit garments, embroidered garment units, leather garment industry, tailoring/readymade garment industry, denim units, spinning & weaving units, allied industries.
M3 Industrial City located on Trade Corridor of Pakistan, along Motorway M-3 South near Sahianwala Interchange, 20km from Faisalabad. This 4,356 acre land will facilitate export oriented industry & foreign direct investments: textile, engineering & construction, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, electronics, FMCG, food & beverages, IT etc.
Value Addition City (VAC), a 225 acre facility located about 20km from Faisalabad city and 1.5km off Sheikhupura-Faisalabad Expressway. VAC will focus on textile, pharma, engineering, electronics, food processing, construction & IT.
The approval of these SEZs was signed by Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif. Punjab Industrial Estates Development and Management Company (PIEDMC) and Faisalabad Industrial Estates Development and Management Company (FIEDMC) worked very closely with PBIT towards achievement of this goal.
These Special economic zones will be completed by 2018 and will help attract foreign direct investment due to attractive investment-friendly policies and tax breaks. These SEZs are expected to add about Rs300 billion to our economy and guarantee over 1,000,000 jobs.