The Export Processing Zones Authority (EPZA), Chairman, Tariq Hassan, said that there were total nine export processing zones (EPZ) in the country while land deal for 10th EPZ in Mirpur Khas will be finalised in a day or two. He revealed this while giving a presentation at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Tuesday.
He also sought the LCCI help and co-operation for establishment of Halal Export Processing Zone in Lahore. He said that the EPZA offers the intending investors an excellent, amiable, market-friendly and secure atmosphere in its processing zones. The relevant operative procedures are simple, hassle-free, easy to understand and time-saving. The cost of doing business is competitive in all EPZs as compared to other zones in the region, especially for manufacturing.
There exists a bright prospect of profit-making in a myriad of projects ranging from consumer goods to mineral-based exploitation. Speaking on the occasion, the LCCI President Irfan Qaiser Sheikh called for early establishment of EPZ (EPZ) in Lahore as it is one of the largest industrial cities in the country and could contribute to jack up exports in a big way.
He said that it was very unfortunate that except EPZ in Karachi, the other EPZs have neither succeeded in generating the desired level of economic activities nor attracted the investors to venture in these sites. Irfan Qaiser said that it has been observed that there are security issues as well as wide gaps in the facilities promised and finally delivered by EPZA. He said that EPZA needs to be more professional while focusing on result oriented approach. He said that the EPZA consumes a fair amount of share from the federal budget in order to function in such a manner that local as well as foreign investors are motivated to invest in EPZs so that the exports from Pakistan could be increased as the country at the moment was in dire need of foreign exchange and the EPZA needs to be proactive.
He said that the LCCI has been supporting this idea since more than a decade. LCCI and EPZA signed MoU way back in 1997 to establish an EPZ in Lahore but due to unknown reasons, it could not be materialised and it is high time that the LCCI and the EPZA should collaborate with each other as such collaboration will go a long way in making the upcoming Halal Export Processing Zone in Lahore a success story.