By Commerce Reporter
LAHORE: Punjab Government has assured All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) of offering unprecedented incentives better than any other country to attract Chinese investor to relocate their operations to Pakistan in the wake of current tariff war.
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“A mechanism is being evolved to ensure no change in policy irrespective of the coming in or going out of any government,” he said, adding that the Punjab government would also ensure full scale security for the Chinese investors operating in the province.
This assurance was extended by Mr. Najaf Iqbal Syed, Chief Executive Officer, Punjab Board of Investment & Trade (PBIT) during his meeting with top textile exporters at APTMA House, Lahore. Chairman APTMA North, Mr. Asad Shafi, Treasurer, Mr. Muhammad Qasim, Mr. S. M. Nabeel, Mr. Muhammad Ali, Mr. Faisal Jawed, Mr. Haroon Ellahi, Mr. Danish Aslam, senior APTMA members and Secretary General Mohammad Raza Baqir welcomed the delegation on the occasion.
The head of PBIT highly supported the idea of establishment and operation of Garments Parks in the Punjab on the pattern of ‘Plug and Play Model’.
He added that such industrial parks will be equipped with the state of art infrastructure to attract foreign and local investors. He formed a committee including representative of APTMA, PBIT and relevant government departments to finalize the recommendations on all aspects of setting up of garments parks either in the existing industrial estate at Sheikhupura or on any other site.
Talking about the current tariff war, he expressed the confidence that Pakistan would emerge as victorious not only in attracting large foreign investment especially from China but also remarkably upsurge its exports through massive industrialization.
He expressed the hope that APTMA would provide all technical assistance and know how to PBIT for attracting Chinese investors.
Earlier, Chairman APTMA North Asad Shafi stated that Patron-in-Chief APTMA Dr. Gohar Ejaz had put forward the vision of apparel cities in the province by constructing modern industrial zones dedicated to garment manufacturing.
The aim is to attract local and foreign investors by leveraging competitive advantages like low-cost labour and favourable trade status and to inject the boost of additional $ 12 billion in textile exports, he added. Asad Shafi said that these industrial parks would offer fully equipped plug & play factories for rent, aiming to significantly increase Pakistan’s apparel exports and economic impact besides generating significant employment opportunities to alleviate poverty.
Shafi added that the establishment of industrial parks is projected to boost export revenue by $2 billion annually in the first phase by providing a conducive environment for production, enhancing competitiveness in the global market and $12 billion per annum after completion.
Shafi said that by relocation of Chinese Apparel Plants, Pakistan can get tremendous benefits especially when Pakistan has much lower tariff in the US as compared with its traditional competitors like China, Vietnam, Bangladesh etc. He proposed to organize trade show to attract Chinese investment for the proposed industrial parks in the province of Punjab.
He said that US textile market is valued at $113 Billion with Pakistan’s share of only $3.9 billion or 3.5% of US imports. As against this, Bangladesh accounted for 6.4%, India 9%, Vietnam 14% and China over 25%. He continued that if Pakistan is able to even marginally get a portion of the US textile imports, Pakistan’s textile exports would increase by more than $5 Billion per annum.
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