SCCI suggests new industrial estate

SIALKOT: President of the Sialkot Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) Mohammad Ishaq Butt has called for setting up a new industrial estate in the city.

“A new industrial estate is necessary to serve and cater to the needs of the micro-, small- and medium-scale industries,” said the SCCI president while talking to The Express Tribune.

He explained that the export industry in Sialkot had expanded and was now producing goods of international quality. Industrial performance was based on teamwork between in-house producers and vendors to whom contracts had been outsourced. It was vital to upgrade facilities of these small vendors so that they could provide quality products to the established exporters.

“Currently, the cottage industry is operating from residential area in and around the city which has created problems of noise and environmental pollution,” added Butt.

To aid the vendors and as part of the drive to promote exports, the SCCI president recommended that another industrial estate must be established to accommodate vendors and manufactures who cannot afford to buy a small piece of land for their manufacturing units.

Shifting of vendors to a specific zone was also important in the light of a campaign launched by the local government to control pollution and minimise damage to the environment.

Butt said that this was a project of national importance since export earnings relied on it and that the government should immediately allocate the funds required to purchase 25 to 30 acres of land. Consequently, three and five marla plots would be provided to the small manufacturers.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 4^th, 2010.