Ahsan Iqbal says government’s vibrant policies have increased foreign investment
Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Reforms Ahsan Iqbal said on Saturday said the viable and vibrant policies of government had not only increased foreign investment in the country, but also stabilised rupee against dollar.
Talking to the media after addressing the First International Conference on Rehabilitation Sciences, he said the friends of Pakistan had promised to invest $5 billion in five years, which, however, could not materialise because of the ill policies of past government.
“The PML-N government has established an investment fund and now a number of projects are being executed through foreign investment, while Friends of Pakistan are also investing here,” he added.
To a question, Iqbal said the rupee value was on an upward trend, but some people could not tolerate this and resorted to criticism.
The minister said Pakistan had been facing extremism for the last 14 years and Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif wanted a durable and amicable solution through dialogue. He said economic revival could prove to be instrumental in resolving all problems. The government’s business and investment-friendly policies were now showing tangible results, as foreign direct investment had increased in Pakistan.
Earlier, addressing the conference, the minister said there was a huge difference of health facilities being provided in developed and developing countries. The developing countries, he added, had yet to provide a lot to their citizens in the health sector, and no nation could advance without focusing on the people’s health and education. He stressed the need for generalizing and expanding the fruit of researches carried out in the field of rehabilitation sciences and remove bottlenecks in this vital area of science.
He observed that physiotherapy, sometimes, proved very helpful in curing complex diseases and stressed the need for promotion of physiotherapy science to bring the five million people, who were suffering from physical disabilities or mentally retarded, back to a normal life.
Iqbal also mentioned that young generation was being focused in the Vision 2025 to bridge the social and economic gap in the country. He said the government was committed to providing the nation all, what the previous government failed to ensure.
The minister, however, called for forging unity among all segments of the society to achieve the Vision-2025 goals, so as to bring Pakistan at a par with developed countries in Asia. He viewed the countries with a constant political stability had developed their economies speedily.