GUJRAT: The business fraternity of three major industrial districts -- Gujrat, Sialkot and Gujranwala -- known as “golden triangle”, have launched a search for a suitable location to establish an expo centre to hold exhibitions and other events to promote their products.

The effort is being made to locate a chunk of around 100 acres of state land near Wazirabad, itself a hub of cutlery industry, which is easy to approach from all the three districts because of its central location, said an official of the Gujrat Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GtCCI).

He said the presidents of chambers of commerce and industry of these districts -- Qaiser Iqbal Baryar (Sialkot), Waheedudin Tanda (Gujrat) and Umar Ashraf (Gujranwala) -- inspected a site in Sambrial tehsil near Sialkot-Lahore motorway, proposed by the Sialkot Chamber during a recent joint visit . Former presidents of GtCCI, Tariq Bilal Malik and Suban Zaheer Butt, also accompanied them.

The Sialkot chamber president is in favour of the site because of its proximity to the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) and Technology University.

Another site to be visited by the chambers presidents is located near Sohdra town of Wazirabad tehsil that is owned by the Punjab government.

The chambers of Gujrat and Gujranwala were more interested in the location near Sohdra because of its central location, the official said.

He said the search for the state land had been initiated on the direction of prime minister’s advisor on commerce Abdul Razzaq Dawood, who during his visit to GtCCI last month had asked the chambers leaders to select a piece of land with consensus. Mr Dawood had promised to recommend the Punjab government to support the chambers in the land acquisition for establishment of an expo centre.

After reaching a consensus on the site land, the chambers will then approach the federal government in this regard.

The establishment of an expo centre for the ‘golden triangle’ districts has been a demand of the the business fraternity of Gujranwala region for around two decades.

Published in Dawn, October 24th, 2020