Infrastructure Gaps Test Pakistan’s Flagship CPEC Industrial Zone, Field Survey Finds
Even as investment tops 327 billion rupees, firms at Allama Iqbal Industrial City report inadequate wastewater infrastructure, unreliable utilities, and no public transport.
The Allama Iqbal Industrial City (AIIC), the first Special Economic Zone under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), has attracted over 327 billion rupees ($1.2 billion) in committed investment and allocated 223 of 424 planned plots. However, a field survey of the zone and four operating firms found that basic infrastructure has not kept pace with the investment.
The zone management itself lists the resulting gaps among its most urgent priorities. The survey found that water is supplied only through individual wells because no zone-wide piped potable network exists. Sewerage infrastructure remains under construction, with no Combined Effluent Treatment Plant (CETP) funded yet, leaving firms to handle industrial wastewater independently.
"CETP and utility reliability" were identified as the most urgent reforms by AIIC's senior officials. The four tenant firms surveyed reported issues with transport facilities, weak mobile signal and internet coverage, low gas and electricity costs, and a lack of on-site warehousing, logistics, and customs facilities. The absence of these basic trade infrastructure elements is striking, considering the zone's intended role as an export-oriented manufacturing hub.
Despite attracting 117 investors and 147 billion rupees in domestic investment, the zone has seen few exporting firms and limited intra-zone industrial linkages.
Written by urgent.news from The Diplomat's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
