Industrialization, tourism promotion vital for wealth creation, debt retirement: PM

F.P. Report

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday said industrialization as well as promotion of tourism were inevitable to repay debts through boosting exports and wealth creation.

The prime minister, addressing the groundbreaking ceremony of Sambrial-Kharian Motorway here, said the project would facilitate the industrial triangle of Gujranwala-Wazirabad-Sialkot which was also a densely population region.

Minister for Communications, Murad Saeed, Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Chaudhry Fawad Hussain, Special Assistant to Prime Minister Usman Dar and Chairman National Highway Authority Captain (Retd) Khurram Agha were also present on the occasion.

The prime minister, who earlier unveiled the plaque to break ground for 69-kilometer motorway, said the area had immense potential for industrialization, so it was direly needed to incentivize the industrial sector to bring about a boom in exports and to increase revenue.

He said the government was committed to facilitate the Small and Medium Enterprises sector by easing their approval processes, and also assured the National Highway Authority to support them for swift approval of public private partnership projects.

PM for timely launch of one-window portal to facilitate investors: Prime Minister Imran Khan, reiterating his government’s commitment to facilitate the investors, on Thursday directed the authorities concerned for launch of one-window portal for local and foreign investors.

Chairing a meeting to discuss enhancement of investment in Special Economic Zones, the prime minister also called for consultation and coordination among all stakeholders regarding the portal.

He said the government was actively working to remove all impediments, faced by the local and foreign investors in order to achieve industrial growth.

The meeting was informed that a one-window portal was being developed by the Board of Investment to address the difficulties faced by the investors.

The portal would not only assist in obtaining the administrative and legal approvals but also help in provision of facilities to the industrial sector.

It was informed that the relevant departments would be added in the portal in two phases. Not only the federal but also the provincial departments would also be included in the portal.

It was also told that a comprehensive strategy had also been formulated for establishment of one-window services. The portal would also introduce paper work as well as digital approvals.