KARACHI: Pakistan has offered 1,000 acres of land to Turkiye, free of charge, for the establishment of a dedicated Export Processing Zone (EPZ) in Karachi, in a bid to strengthen manufacturing ties and boost bilateral trade.
The proposal, first floated by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif during a meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in April, is part of Islamabad’s wider push to raise two-way trade to $5 billion.
According to officials familiar with the matter, a high-level Pakistani delegation comprising representatives of the Foreign Office, the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC), the Board of Investment (BoI) and the Sindh Export Processing Zone Authority recently visited Istanbul and Ankara to advance talks on the project.
During the visit, the team studied Turkiye’s EPZ model considered one of the most successful in the region. Initially state-run, Turkish zones have been developed and managed by private entities since 1995, with the government retaining a supervisory role. Incentives offered to investors include 20-year tax holidays, minimal land charges, and guaranteed access to electricity, water and gas. Pakistani officials said the Karachi zone would be shaped on similar lines.
“Karachi Industrial Park has immense potential,” one senior official noted, pointing to the city’s strong infrastructure and strategic location near Middle Eastern and Central Asian markets. “Relocating to Karachi could allow Turkish exporters to cut freight costs dramatically from around $4,000 per ton to just $1,000.”
The initiative also dovetails with ongoing efforts to expand Pakistan’s Preferential Trade Agreement with Turkiye and to explore new trade arrangements with Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states, which could open up wider export channels for Pakistani goods.
Officials see the planned EPZ as a possible game-changer. By offering Turkish manufacturers a cost-effective and investor-friendly environment, Pakistan hopes to attract new production lines, encourage technology transfer, and improve its export base while strengthening strategic ties with Ankara.
