Divisional Commissioner Faisalabad, Ishrat Ali, commended the Punjab government for providing facilities for early completion of the state-of-the-art, CPEC-prioritized Special Economic Zone (SEZ), Allama Iqbal Industrial City. This prioritized SEZ is being constructed by Faisalabad Industrial Estate Development and Management Company (FIEDMC) along M-4 Motorway in Faisalabad.
He expressed these views while chairing a meeting held on Thursday, 19th March. The meeting was attended by several officials from FIEDMC. These included Mian Kashif Ashfaq, Chairman FIEDMC, Regional Police Officer Raja Riffat Mukhtar, Deputy Commissioner Faisalabad Muhammad, Chief Operating Officer Aamir Saleemi and Mohsin Rashid former Deputy Commissioner Toba Tek Singh.
Ishrat Ali constituted a three-member high level committee to address the chronic issue of illegal possession and removal of encroachment from FIEDMC lands. They also discussed the proposed map of Khurrianwala Interchange and dual carriageway from Chiniot to Sahiwanwala. It was decided in principle to remove encroachments on this way in order to better utilize the 7000 acres of land dedicated to the three industrial estates built by FIEDMC.
Allama Iqbal Industrial City by FIEDMC would house as many as 400 industries besides giving employment to 3000,00 people. Approximately Rs 400 billion local and nearly 200 millions dollar foreign investments would be pumped into this project.
— Mian Kashif Ashfaq (@Kashif_Ashfaq1) December 31, 2019
Talking about FIEDMC’s lands, Divisional Commissioner Ishrat Ali said that the City government would expedite their retrieval from the locals who have occupied it forcefully. Ishrat Ali promised that no negligence would be tolerated in this regard.
He said they would provide all necessary help to FIEDMC for early completions of its all projects. Moreover, he revealed that an anti-encroachment move is underway to remove hurdles and hawkers from the surroundings of FIEDMC.
Regional Police Officer, Raja Riffat Mukhtar, said that a model police station in FIEDMC will further be strengthened for security and protection of the investors, industrialists and workers. This police station will employ a highly trained staff, fluent in spoken English and Chinese languages.
He shared that a monitoring system will also be established in FIEDMC’s economic zones on the pattern of Lahore Safe City Project. This will be linked with a central monitoring system of police. Furthermore, a service center will also be set up in the model police station which will screen the employees to avoid hiring people with previous criminal records.
The importance of this interchange is to enable convenience of commute. It would facilitate entry into and exit from FIEDMC’s M-3 industrial city, given the estate’s location between M-3 and M-4 motorways
On this occasion, Mian Kashif Ashfaq said, “the importance of this interchange is to enable convenience of commute. It would facilitate entry into and exit from FIEDMC’s M-3 industrial city, given the estate’s location between M-3 and M-4 motorways”. This link road will further help manage incoming and outgoing traffic on the motorway, almost separating vehicles traveling to the industrial estates.
Such an investment from the government will attract foreign and local financiers, whereby highlighting the importance of government support for the success of large-scale national initiatives.
He further said, “the SEZ is socially compliant and approved by the environment protection department along with centralized security system on the pattern of Lahore Safe City like surveillance mechanism”.
Mian Kashif anticipates that the M3-City will have warehouse and dry ports facilities, other than an Expo Centre, commercial areas, hotels, banks, restaurants, coffee shops, modern hospitals equipped with trauma centre, labour colonies and aerodrome/helipad. He said that Pakistan has offered a big incentive package to foreign investors in order to gear up its economy and attract FDI in a large volume “Investment incentives in Pakistan are diverse and highly business-friendly”.
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FIEDMC and Allama Iqbal Industrial City
Faisalabad Industrial & Economic Development Company (FIEDMC) is a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) entity between the Punjab government and the Faisalabad business community. It was set up in 2004 as a public listed company, established by the Government of Punjab, during Jahangir Khan Tareen’s tenure as ‘Adviser to CM Punjab on Special Initiatives”.
Since FIEDMC’s inception, it has successfully constructed three industrial estates along Faisalabad motorway, namely: M-3 Industrial City, Value Addition City and the latest, Allama Iqbal Industrial City (AIIC).
Expanding over an area of 3200 acres, Allama Iqbal Industrial City (AIIC) saw its groundbreaking at the hands of Prime Minister Imran Khan, on Friday 3rd January 2020. It is the first prioritized CPEC special economic zone, strategically located just opposite M-3 Industrial City SEZ and interconnected through flyover at Sahianwala Interchange, Motorway M-4, Faisalabad.
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According to FIEDMC, AIIC has been designed on international standards to fulfill the needs of international especially Chinese industrialists. The overarching purpose of these industrial estates is “industrial relocation” from China to key centers in Pakistan – however, FIEDMC also envisions an industrial relocation from congested inner cities to these new SEZs.
As of now, a total of nine Special Economic Zones are under the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Industrial Cooperation Framework. Out of these, three have been declared as Prioritized Special Economic Zones by the governments of Pakistan and China, including the Allama Iqbal Industrial City of Faisalabad, Rashakai SEZ in KP, and Dhabajee SEZ, near Karachi, Sindh.