FAISALABAD, Nov 16: Record investment of Rs1 billion has been made in the textile sector during last three months to upgrade and help existing units face the challenges of WTO , said Federal Minister for Textile Industry Chaudhary Mushtaq Ali Cheema.

Talking to journalists at 'Country House' here Tuesday, he expressed satisfaction over the expansion in the textile units.

He said that this process was initiated about four years ago, and most of the exporters-cum-manufacturers have already replaced old machinery with latest state of art machinery.

This, he added, will improve the quality of their products and help face their competitors in the international markets.

"Investment of four billion (Rupees) was made in the textile units situated in the Industrial belt of Khurrianwala during last 4 years," he said and added that on the completion of this expansion phase, new investors would establish new units.

In this connection three major projects including Garment City, Value Addition City and Faisalabad Industrial City are being undertaken.

He said that this phase would not only give a quantum jump to the textile exports but also offer thousands of new job opportunities in the country.

He was very optimistic about the future of the textile sector and said that in next phase foreign investors would also start investing in textile sector. He hoped that they would prefer joint ventures in the manufacturing of textile related machinery, chemicals and dyes to further strengthen its foundation of the textile sector.

The Minister also reiterated his commitment to take all stakeholders into confidence for the balanced and expeditious growth of the textile sector. -APP