Germans and Italians are interested to join Allama Iqbal Industrial City (AIIC)

LAHORE – Keen interest has been evinced by the German and Italian investors and manufacturers to pump colossal investment in Allama Iqbal Industrial City, a prioritized Special Economic Zone of Faisalabad Industrial Estate Development and Management Company (FIEDMC) under CPEC.

This was disclosed by FIEDMC Chairman Mian Kashif Ashfaq on Wednesday while talking to different delegations of Germans and Italians investors during ongoing tour to Europe.

Mian Kashif further said there was a vast scope of enhancing Pak-German bilateral trade relations whereas German investors were also taking keen interest to invest in various sectors in Pakistan especially in FIEDMC. He said that investors and manufacturers’ delegation from Germany would soon visit Pakistan to explore business opportunities in Pakistani market and FIEDMC would provide them all required assistance in this regard.

He said that Germany was exporting modern machinery for textile especially for value added textile sector which would help Pakistani textile manufacturers to bring improvement in quality of their products and reduce cost of doing business. He said that Pakistani textile exports to Germany had upward trend by 16 percent after Pakistan got GSP plus status.

Similarly, the Chairman FIEDMC said that the Italian investors are also keen to invest in various sectors including LPG, energy, hydropower, mining, agriculture machinery, food processing, automotive, telecommunication, oil & gas and marble sectors.

He was of the view that the Italian investment is important for Pakistan and assured to take every possible measure for cooperation with the Italian investors.

Following the vision of Prime Minister Imran Khan, FIEDMC was extending maximum facilities to the foreign and local manufacturers and providing all services to businessperson under one roof for ease of doing business in the province, Mian Kashif said.

He further said all industries within the export processing zone would be exempted from tax for a period of 10 years and plants, machinery, raw material and other equipment would be imported duty-free.

The Chairman FIEDMC reiterating his stance said that projects like Allama Iqbal Industrial City and M3 have potential to stimulate local economy by increasing the demand of locally manufactured goods. “Such increase in demand will not only allow full utilization of existing manufacturing capacity but will also encourage manufacturers to increase their capacity. This will generate much needed employment opportunities and also contribute sizable amount of revenue to national exchequer,” he added.