FAISALABAD, Sept 20: The Faisalabad Industrial Estate Development and Management Company (FIEDMC) chairman has said a textile zone site has been identified and it will be developed in the first phase of the development of the Faisalabad Industrial City.

Talking to newsmen here on Tuesday, Mian Mohammad Latif said FIEDMC had almost completed basic formalities, and plots in its project — Value Addition City (VAC) — had already been auctioned.

The VAC is under completion near Khurrianwala over 181 acres, and it will house small export-oriented industrial units.

He said the Faisalabad Industrial City would be the biggest industrial city of the country which was being developed over 3,365 acres at the intersection of Sahianwala interchange on the motorway.

He said the objective of this city was to ensure systematic and planned industrial development of this industrial and business centre of the country with a futuristic vision by providing all infrastructure facilities.

He said direct foreign investment was also expected in this project. It would also provide much-needed job opportunities and play a major role in arresting unemployment. The city would also provide best facilities to industrial workers.

He said the consultants had identified the textile zone after completing its master planning, and now work for the construction of main arterial and internal roads in this zone would be started within a couple of months. cloth-testing lab: Installation of imported machinery at a state-of-the-art Pakistan Textile Testing Foundation laboratory has been started here on Tuesday.

The laboratory will be completed with an estimated cost of Rs30 million, including imported equipment from UK and Chicago worth Rs20 million.

It will be the universally acknowledged cloth-testing lab in Pakistan and help exporters get all types of cloth-related tests for yarn, fabric, garment and hosiery with mandatory ISO certified laboratory test.

A Pakistan Textile Exporters Association (PTEA) spokesman said the laboratory would conduct all types of tests, including fabric strength, busting, tearing, abrasion test, inflammability, permeability and water proofing.

Earlier, the exporters were forced to get these mandatory tests conducted from foreign laboratories.

It was a costly and time-consuming exercise, he said and added that the practice was not only causing delay in their foreign shipments, but exporters were also forced to airlift their shipments to ensure in-time delivery to foreign buyers at heavy costs.

He further said civil work had already been completed in the existing building and after installation of machinery, the lab would be operational by the end of September or during the first week of October. — Correspondent