LAHORE: Expecting an annual apparel export of $3 to $4 billion from the Quaid-e-Azam Apparel Park, the newly inducted Chairman of the Punjab Industrial Estates Development and Management Company (PIEDMC) Rizwan Khalid Butt says it will replace Sundar Industrial Estate as the flagship of PIEDMC. Here are excerpts from his interview on industrialisation in Punjab
Q. You have recently been elected as the chairman of PIEDMC, how challenging is this job?
A. The most challenging task is to make the Quid-e-Azam Apparel Park, spread over 1,500 acres, operational, which is exclusively designed for exports of apparel. Numerous Chinese investors and few from other developed economies have shown keen interest to establish their factories in this estate. In fact it will be the first industrial estate in the country where all the foreign investment will come for exports only. Up till now almost all foreign investment in Pakistan was made for local consumption only.
We will start selling plots in this apparel park by the first week of September. The plots will be allotted on first come first serve basis to both Pakistani and foreign investors. They will be required to establish their production units within a year after allotment.
About 500 acres of the land available for this first state of the art apparel park will be utilised for service area. Around 1,000 acres will be available for industrial plots of 10 acres each, to establish medium sized woven or knitted garment units. Each unit will employ 3,000 workers. The industrial estate will thus provide employment to 300,000 workers. The average export of this size of apparel units in Pakistan is $30-$50 million. So we can expect this industrial park to generate annual exports of $3-$4 billion.
Q. How long have you been associated with PIEDMC and how does the company operate?
A. I have been in the PIEDMC board for five years and am well acquainted with its operations. This company has emerged from being a government dependent entity to a self-financing organisation for public sector industrial estates in the past six years. This is the only public sector entity that has evolved a mechanism to develop a new industrial estate from its own funds and create resources for the next from the sales proceeds of the new estate. Punjab is perhaps the only province that has been industrialising rapidly. We have over 700 industries operational in Sundar, 500 of which have been commissioned in the last four years. SM Tanveer, the past chairman headed PIEDMC for six years and has left a legacy that is extremely challenging. However, since the SOPs are there, is a lot of room for industrialisation. PIEDMC aims to establish one state of the art industrial estate in all districts of the province. All estates run by PIEDMC are providing best roads, regular power and road linkages to local markets and for exporters to Karachi. PIEDMC is actively promoting small and medium industries. The concept had merit as small and medium industries are not only the engines of industrial growth around the globe but are the main job providers as well.
Q. This sector was nurtured during Ayub Khan’s era, and industrial estates established during that period are in shambles. How do you plan to sustain and maintain these estates?
A. The only flaw was that maintenance of these states was left to the public sector. The decisions for repair were delayed due to red tape and violation of building laws was ignored over time. Now private sector boards, comprising the entrepreneurs operating in each estate run the affairs of the estate, including its maintenance. We took over Quaid-e Azam Industrial Estate at Kot Lakhpat Lahore with a completely broken infrastructure. Since its affairs have been taken over by the private sector management board, there has been no other industrial estate in the country except Sundar that has a better operational infrastructure.
Multan Industrial Estate has been revamped on similar lines. Industrial activities have rapidly picked up and you will hardly find a vacant industrial plot in these estates. The Rahim Yar Khan Industrial Estate is colonising rapidly. Our rules mandate the construction and operation of industries within a specified time.
Failure to do so results in cancelation of plots. Infrastructure is the backbone of industrial development and a quick and convenient transportation system is an absolute necessity for a modern society; the Punjab government is addressing these issues in all regions where new industrial estates are being developed by the PIEDMC. Industrial development is essential to create new job opportunities for the youth.
