Khairpur SEZ named among Asia's best zones

Country earns global acclaim for agro-industrial innovation, resilient trade strategy in 2025 Global Awards

KARACHI:

Pakistan's Khairpur Special Economic Zone (SEZ) has earned global recognition as a Highly Commended Zone in the fDi Intelligence Global Free Zones of the Year 2025 awards, marking a major achievement for the country's industrial development efforts.

The awards, published on October 9 by fDi Intelligence, a division of the Financial Times, evaluated 45 industrial zones worldwide for their performance in manufacturing, logistics, governance, and investment facilitation.

While Brazil's ZPE Ceará claimed the top global title, followed by Dubai's Jebel Ali Free Zone, Pakistan's Khairpur SEZ stood out in the Asia Industrial Zone of the Year category as the regional runner-up.

Established in 2012 by the Government of Sindh, Khairpur SEZ focuses on agro-processing and allied industries, leveraging its strategic location along the National Highway N-5, about five hours from Karachi.

The Khairpur SEZ was established by the government of Sindh in Tando Nazar Ali, Khairpur District, spanning 140 acres along the National Highway. Nestled in the "City of Dates," renowned for its Talpur dynasty heritage and canal-irrigated farmlands, the zone leverages the region's abundant agro-resources, particularly date palms, to foster value-added processing.

The zone has emerged as a hub for cross-regional trade, attracting both domestic and foreign investors.

Recent projects include a fruit pulping and packaging plant by Al Rhaim Agri-Processing and a cold storage and packaging facility by Bio Masdar. The zone's forward-looking approach, encouraging local sourcing of dates, rice, and fruits, earned it high praise from judges for resilience against tariff and non-tariff barriers and for its commitment to sustainable value chains.

The recognition underscores Pakistan's growing potential in agri-industrial exports and its evolving strategy to strengthen regional supply chains amid global trade disruptions.

Khairpur SEZ's core objectives include promoting agro-food processing, such as date dehydration, fruit pulping, and dairy, alongside light engineering for farm tools and cotton ginning, aiming to boost exports, reduce wastage, and create jobs for the local workforce of over 1.5 million. Equipped with state-of-the-art utilities like uninterrupted power and gas, KSEZ envisions industrial clusters to attract FDI and drive socio-economic upliftment.

Stakeholders indicate that if bureaucratic hurdles, such as re-zoning delays, were not present, full operations could have commenced much earlier, highlighting ongoing gaps in SEZ implementation.