Artistic Milliners is supporting a new 400-acre apparel zone at Port Qasim in Pakistan.
On Monday, Federal Minister for Maritime Affairs Muhammad Junaid Anwar Chaudhry announced plans to establish the zone, which will focus on “high-value” apparel production.
The first phase of the project will span 250 acres and is expected to create more than 138,000 jobs and generate annual exports of around $2.2 billion. The project also aims to raise the average export value of garments to around $8 per piece.
Chaudhry said private-sector participation will be a key component of the project. Under the plan, Pakistani textile and denim manufacturing company, Artistic Milliners, will establish a manufacturing unit with an investment of more than $18 million, incorporating vertical integration and green technologies. Artistic Milliners did not comment on the investment.
The proposed commercial structure comprises 32 industrial plots of five acres each. However, Chaudhry said the plot size could be reduced to two or three acres to accommodate more investors and manufacturing units.
The Port Qasim Authority (PQA) will provide infrastructure and utilities. Each industrial unit will have access to up to 400,000 gallons of water a day, two megawatts of on-grid electricity and 23,100 pounds of industrial gas a day at 8 pounds per square inch (PSI), which is a unit used to measure how much force is applied over one square inch of area.
Planned utility capacity for the total project includes 13 million gallons of water a day, 64MW of on-grid electricity and 750,000 pounds of industrial gas a day.
Chaudry said the initiative is part of efforts to “expand Pakistan’s industrial base and export capacity, with port infrastructure, utilities, customs facilities and private investment integrated into the proposed apparel zone.”
