FAISALABAD: Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Reforms Ahsan Iqbal Friday said that Chinese investment of US $ 45 billion will play a positive role in bringing economic progress and development in the country and it would also encourage other countries to invest in Pakistan.
Addressing the members of Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FCCI) here, he said that Chinese, German, American, European, Middle East and Japanese investors are now visiting Pakistan to explore the opportunities of investment in this country.
He said that “it is also a challenge for us to fully capitalize all benefits of Chinese investment and if we succeeded to avail this opportunity, Pakistan will be included among top 25 biggest economies of the world within next 10-15 years,” he added.
To a question, he said the government put all-out efforts to bring economic stability and development in the country and now all economic indicators were positive.
The minister said the government was focusing to produce electricity in surplus on cheaper rates to fulfill future needs of the country, adding that system to check electricity pilferage was being upgraded to ensure 100 percent recovery of the bills. He said that Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif would visit Faisalabad or invite business community to Islamabad to redress their grievances.
He said he would meet the prime minister next week to brief him about the problems faced by the business community of country.
He said the government was putting efforts to put the country on the way to progress and prosperity and business community should also cooperate with the government. Ahsan Iqbal underlined the importance of political stability and increase in exports to achieve economic objectives and said that under the Vision 2025, the government has viable plans to increase the exports from $ 25 billion to $ 150 billion.
He added that energy crisis will be resolved within next two to three years which would also help increasing exports.
He said that the government would provide all facilities to the private sector, adding that research funds of Rs 1 billion were allocated as research and innovation was imperative to achieve the economic objectives.
He said that Industry-Academia will work collectively and 7500 PhD Scholars will work on innovative projects for the industry.
Earlier FCCI President Engr. Rizwan Ashraf appreciated the achievements of the government on economic front.
