Formation of new industrial zones in Punjab under deliberation

LAHORE: Punjab Minister for Trade & Industry Aslam Iqbal presided over a meeting at the Punjab Board of Investment and Trade (PBIT) office on Wednesday. The meeting saw a discussion on various matters, including the formation of new industrial clusters, special economic zones and establishment of required infrastructure in the said industrial zones.

The meeting resolved to create a coordination committee with the federal government to deal with the provision of electricity and gas in industrial estates and to streamline the matters related to the federal government. The provision of funds for the construction of the link road of Quaid-e-Azam Apparel Park was also approved.

Ahsan Iqbal expressed that Punjab is an appealing destination for investments and the recent investments of more than one billion dollars are a testament to that. He also expressed confidence in this trend of inflow to continue. He said that world-class infrastructure is being provided in these industrial zones and Faisalabad industrial estate has had several foreign companies invest in it. He said that providing the necessary facilities to ensure smooth flow of the industry is the utmost priority and a meeting would be held in the coming days with the federal government departments to request and ensure support to help increase the progress in this regard.

The Minister also said that Quaid-e-Azam Apparel Park will be the top priority and it will go on to strengthen the textile sector. He said that the country’s largest industrial estate was being established in Muzaffargarh and Layyah over an area of 20,000 acres.