FAISALABAD: The proposed plan by the Faisalabad Industrial Estate Deve-lopment and Management Company (FIEDMC) to allocate industrial plots under a leasing model could adversely affect exporters and slow industrial growth, warned Ahmad Afzal Awan, Senior Vice Chairman of Pakistan Hosiery Manufacturers and Exporters Association (PHMA), North Zone on Thursday.
In a statement, Awan said exporters require ownership security and long-term stability to make substantial investments in machinery, infrastructure and compliance with international standards. He expressed concern that a leasing model would create uncertainty, discourage long-term planning and weaken the confidence of exporters already facing high energy costs, financial constraints and tough global competition.
He said Faisalabad remained the backbone of the country’s textile and hosiery exports, adding that any policy limiting industrial ownership could negatively affect export volumes, employment and foreign exchange earnings. “Instead of facilitating industrialists, such bureaucratic measures may push investors away and could force some exporters to downsize or relocate,” he cautioned.
Ahmad Afzal Awan urged the Punjab government and relevant authorities to review the proposal and continue with the ownership-based allotment system, which, he said, had historically supported industrial expansion and export-led growth. He stressed that policy consistency, ease of doing business and investor-friendly decisions were essential for economic recovery.
Ahmad Afzal Awan further stressed that any increase in the price of industrial plots would be unacceptable to the exporter community. He pointed out that plot prices are already excessively high, and any further escalation would impose an additional financial burden on investors, ultimately discouraging industrial expansion and new investment. He also recalled that the Prime Minister of Pakistan Shehbaz Sharif, during his previous visit to Faisalabad in the interim government period had publicly assured that these plots would be allotted to exporters free of cost to promote industrial development and strengthen Pakistan’s export sector.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026
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