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In 2003, Punjab Government had established Punjab Industrial Estates Development and Management Company (PIEDMC), on the basis of public-private partnership to achieve orderly planned and rapid industrialization in the province. Over the years, PIEDMC actively participated in the industrial developments and now successfully runs four industrial estates and it is busy in developing another five estates in different parts of the province. One of the landmark achievements is that the Company entered into an agreement with the Punjab Government to retire a loan of Rs1,035 million given to it as seed money to kick start its operations in 2004.
Development of Sundar Industrial Estate was assigned as an initial project to PIEDMC in 2004 and nearly 70% of its colonization has been completed and at present the Estate provides employment to approximately 30,000 skilled labors. New projects initiated by PIEDMC are Rahim Yar Khan, Vehari and Bhalwal industrial estates. All the three projects have been 100 percent financed by the Company, which is also busy in developing new projects. Two of these projects are Quaid-e-Azam Solar Park and Punjab Apparel Park.
New Initiates
A Chinese power producing company has offered to set up power plants in all the industrial estates owned and developed by PIEDMC to meet the energy requirements. Liu Minghua, Director Business Development of the Company in a meeting with the PIEDMC officials said his group was equipped with latest technology and would also provide all their expertise besides funding for the project. The leader of the delegation lauded untiring efforts of Mian Shahbaz Sharif, Chief Minister of Punjab for bringing energy units in Punjab province and hoped there would be no energy shortage in Punjab province as well in the country during next two to three years. During the visit, the Chinese delegation visited Sundar Industrial Estate Grid Station and appreciated the current arrangements for supply of electricity to industrial units located within the estate.
In one of the meetings, Chairman PIEDMC announced that a ‘Garment City’ would be established to revitalize garment industry in Punjab province. The garment city will be established at about 400 to 500 acres of land in close proximity with Lahore. The estate would make the garment sector more competitive and help accelerate manufacturing capacity. Arrangements are being finalized to get status of special economic for the proposed garment city from the federal government.
PIEDMC Structure
PIEDMC has been incorporated under Companies Ordinance 1984. The Company is owned by the Government of Punjab and is run by an independent Board of Directors comprising of 16 members. Majority of them are private sector industrialists and the rest are ex-officio members. This can be termed a successful model of public private partnership. The Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) are from the private sector and the day to day affairs are being looked after by the CEO. Initially Punjab Government has provided seed money of over one billion rupees. The key objectives for the creation of PIEDMC are: 1) providing quality infrastructure, 2) ensure efficient, cost effective and sustainable management of industrial estates and 3) extending services on the basis of “One Window Operation”.
Leading Estates
Quaid-e-Azam Industrial Estate formerly known as Kot Lakhpat Industrial Estate is the oldest planned industrial estate of Punjab. The project established in 1960s and spread over 565 acres. It has 477 industrial plots varying in size from 1 kanal to 100 kanals. The estate was earlier managed by Housing & Physical Planning and later by Lahore Development Authority (LDA). In April 2004, the ownership and management of the estate was transferred to PIEDMC and was renamed as Quaid-e-Azam Industrial Estate (QIE). It is managed by a Board of Management consisting of 14 members, 9 belonging to private sector representing various industrial segments of the estate and the rest representing the government. A total of 50,000 workers are working out of these approximately 10,000 are females. Presently there is no industrial land available at QIE.
Sundar Industrial Estate, spread over 1700 acres of land was inaugurated in February 2007 and is a vision turned into reality. The SIE has infrastructure comparable to any modern industrial estate globally. It is the first project assigned to PIEDMC and envisioned to be an island of facilitation in the sea of harassment for prospective industrialists. The objective was to develop an industrial estate where issues of industrialists are handled and problems solved through One Window operation. Till October 2012, the number on units commencing production had touched 255 and another 190 were expected to come online by December, 2013. The Estate is ideally located at approximately 45KM from the centre of Lahore on Sundar Raiwind Road. All plots have been sold out at SIE, however, plot allotment is a continuous process, as some plots are vacated either voluntarily by the customer or cancelled by the management. Vacant plots are re-allotted to customers as per a waiting list maintained by the company.
Multan Industrial Estate (MIE) is located at a distance of about 15km south west of Multan city. In 1960’s it was planned to establish an Industrial Estate in the Southern Punjab and 1410 acres of land was acquired for this purpose. However, due to lack of funds, Government of Punjab decided to develop it into two phases. Phase-I comprising of 743 acres was developed and completed in 1980’s whereas, 667 acres were planned to be developed subsequently as phase-II. All plots in phase-I were leased out for a period of 99 years to industrialists and some public sector entities. In 2004, Punjab Government decided to revive the Estate. An amount of Rs100 million was allocated by the provincial government for up gradation of the infrastructure and an equivalent amount contributed by PIEDMC. Encouraged by the response of up-gradation work in Phase-I, PIEDMC was assigned task of development of infrastructure work for Phase-II in September 2006. It is located adjacent to Phase-I.
Bhalwal Industrial Estate comprising 400 acres of land. It is located at approximately 19 Km on Bhalwal-Bhera Road. Punjab Government aims at granting the Estate status of SEZ under SEZs Act 2012. The developers and entrepreneurs will get one-time exemption from customs duties and taxes for all capital goods imported into Pakistan for the development of such zones. Ten-year tax holiday, both for SEZ developers and enterprises, is also allowed under the law, starting from the date of signing of the development agreement. This law extends to the whole of Pakistan. Additional special benefits can also be given by competent authority on case to case basis.
Vehari Industrial Estate spread over 343 acre is located 6 Km from Vehari City towards Pakpattan Canal on Khanewal Vehari Road. The target industrial sectors are Textile, Food and Dairy, Leather etc. Construction work has commenced in March 2013 and aimed to complete by March 2015.
Rahim Yar Khan Industrial Estate comprising of 458 acres of land has been started in 2012. RIE is ideally located at approximately 20KM from Rahim Yar Khan City towards Sadiqabad on main National Highway.
The contribution of industrial units located in Punjab to Pakistan’s economy will not complete without mentioning Chunian and Faisalabad.
Chunian is an historic city located about 70 km south of Lahore, the Punjab capital. It is located on the Pattoki-Kasur Road at an important junction of local roads. The city is located on the right bank of the former Beas River. The area is known for the Changa Manga forest, the largest single plantation of trees in Pakistan, and the Chunian Industrial Estate, one of the largest concentrations of manufacturing in the country. The city is a busy regional market for agricultural produce.
Faisalabad has a predominantly agriculture and industry-based economy and forms a backbone of Pakistan’s textiles production sector. With a population exceeding 2 million, it is the country’s third largest city. The area’s status as the nation’s industrial capital has allowed it essentially to experience rapid industrial development and nurture itself into a major growth center with high economic activity.
Today, more than half of Faisalabad’s population is engaged outside agriculture, letting a large number of villages and urban areas experience transition from agriculture to industries that are primarily export-based. The ongoing economic diversification has initially attracted migration from other parts of the country; merchants from surrounding districts also travel to Faisalabad frequently to engage in trade. Challenges which Faisalabad’s economy currently faces includes gas and power load shedding, which has led to the closure and disruption of several textile and manufacturing factories.
A study released in 2009, surveying the 2008 GDP of the top cities in the world, calculated Faisalabad’s GDP at $35 billion. The city was third in Pakistan behind Karachi ($78 billion) and Lahore ($40 billion). Faisalabad’s GDP is projected to rise to $37 billion by 2025 at a growth rate of 5.7%, higher than the growth rates of 5.5% and 5.6% predicted for Karachi and Lahore.
Faisalabad has a strong industrial base including textiles, jewellery, home furniture, chemical, food processing, soap making, paints, polymers and pharmaceuticals, assisted by the expanding transport network, which includes newly built motorway and highways to Lahore, Multan, Sargodha and Islamabad/Rawalpindi. Faisalabad is one of the three planned cities of the country. Establishment of a dry port at Gatti, a few kilometers away from the main city has greatly boosted economic activities in Faisalabad by facilitating direct imports and exports of goods and cargo.
The rise of the middle class as a result of economic boom in the past decade has led to the construction of major malls and shopping plazas amid investment from the United Arab Emirates as well as many European firms. Faisalabad has been called the “Manchester of Pakistan” because it has a major impact on the economy of Pakistan. The city also generates 25% revenue for the trade and commerce activity of Pakistan.
