A Chinese company is investing $150 million in an industrial park on the border with Kasur in Lahore, which will house state-of-the-art fabric units, dyeing facilities and clothing processing units to export sportswear from Pakistan to the Americas, Europe, Asia-Pacific and other parts of the world.
The Shanghai-based Challenge project is potentially the first foreign direct investment (FDI) in Pakistan’s export industry. The company has been operating as Challenge Apparel since 2017, with its clothing manufacturing unit on Multan Road near Lahore earning almost $44 million in export revenue during the last fiscal year, according to its managing director Chen Yan, who is recognized in the governments and business circles as Karen.
She expects exports to rise to $54 million this fiscal year from her current plant. Once the Challenge Fashion Industrial Park is operational from July next year, Pakistan’s sportswear exports are expected to rise to $120 million in the first year and $400 million in the next few.
Exports from Pakistan’s largest textile exporting business stood at less than $300 million last year.
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