Artistic Milliners to invest over $18mn in Port Qasim 400-acre Garments City

According to Business Recorder, Pakistan will set up a 400-acre garments city at Port Qasim in Karachi, a move that Federal Minister for Maritime Affairs Junaid Anwar Chaudhry announced on Monday. The textile and denim manufacturer Artistic Milliners intends to put more than $18 million into a unit combining vertical integration with green technologies. The minister described the zone as an export-oriented cluster focused on high-value apparel, and said private investment would be central to it.

The first phase covers 250 acres, and 35% of that area is reserved for roads, utilities and green spaces. The layout envisages 32 industrial plots of five acres each, though plots could shrink to two or three acres to draw more manufacturers. The Port Qasim Authority would supply the infrastructure, water, power and industrial gas for each unit, including up to 400,000 gallons of water daily and two megawatts of on-grid electricity.

Projections shown at the session forecast 138,125 jobs from the first phase and $2.2 billion in yearly exports. The target is an average garment export value of about $8 per piece, and a single-window system is planned for exporters. Chaudhry said private participation is central, and the project is framed as a public-private partnership.