Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf on Sunday said the private sector was the engine of growth and he would like to see it play a leading role in the economy.
The prime minister said this while talking to the office bearers of Islamabad Chambers of Commerce and Industry who called on him at Prime Minister’s House here.
He said the government only gave a policy to create an enabling environment for the economy within the imperatives of social justice.
The delegation of Islamabad Chamber of Commerce was headed by its Acting President Asad.
The delegation of the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce congratulated the prime minister on his election as the prime minister of the country and hoped that challenges would be converted into opportunities under his leadership.
He said he was committed to easing load shedding in the country as soon as possible and some improvement had already been felt by the people in the country.
The members of Islamabad Chamber agreed with the prime minister, who said the situation would further improve as the hydro power generation was going to be increased due to the considerable improvement in the rivers flow attributed to the monsoon and melting of glaciers.
Ashraf said he was very clear that the development of indigenous sources of energy was absolutely critical for the development of the economy on sustainable basis as the oil based energy costs billion of dollars required for fuel oil.
The prime minister said it was his passion to see the development of Thar Coal Project which offered a cheap indigenous solution for the energy crisis on permanent basis.
“The solution will get the country out of the vicious circle of circular debt and also provide enormous fiscal space by saving billions of dollars spent on import of oil and same could be spent to undertake people’s welfare-oriented development projects,” Asharf said.
The prime minister said Thar Coal held key to prosperous future of Pakistan and he was determined to see its development to the possible extent.
“I will soon visit the site of the project being undertaken under the able leadership of Dr Samar Mubarakmand pertaining to underground gasification meant for power generation.”
