‘Dharnas tried to keep us grounded but we fly’

While talking to a delegation of business community at Aiwan-e-Sadr, President Mamnoon Hussain and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said the government has worked really hard to put the economy back on the right track despite the negative impacts of the sit-ins.

On the occasion, the president thanked the prime minister for appreciating his suggestion for holding a meeting with the eminent traders and businessmen of the country to provide impetus to the trade activities and further improve economy of the country.

The president observed that the government was serious towards improving the economy and to promote trade and commerce in the country. In this regard the policies of the government were in the right direction, said the president. He underscored the need for the traders and business community to take maximum benefit from the policies of the government so that the economy is further stabilised and more and more job opportunities are created.

Hussain said that law and order situation and energy shortages were the two major obstructions in the way of promotion of economic activities and the government was fully concentrating on addressing these issues. He assured the traders that these issues would be resolved at the earliest possible.

On the occasion, the prime minister said that energy shortage and terrorism were the two major issues facing the country but the government was not deterred by these challenges.

The prime minister said that the decision to set-up military court has not been made by any dictator but by the democratic dispensation itself. He emphasised that the independence of judiciary was essential but equally important is the performance of judiciary.

PM Sharif said that pendency of numerous cases has contributed towards law and order issues. He said that very soon the cases of attack on Malala Yousafzai and that on mountaineers in the Northern Areas would be brought to the military courts. He said that we have to make Pakistan a secure and peaceful place for our future generations.

The Prime Minister reiterated said that the Government was addressing energy and petrol issues of the domestic consumers and the business community. Power plants are also being set up in the county, he continued, adding that he wants maximum production of electricity by 2017 so that the investors and business community could be assured that they have all the resources and energy to meet their requirements.

The prime minister informed the delegation that it has been decided to lay gas pipeline from Gwadar to Nawab Shah. The pipeline would also be laid from Iran to Gwadar, said the prime minister. He said that for establishing infrastructure, work is in progress and tenders have been called for many infrastructural projects. He said that work was underway speedily on construction of Karachi-Lahore Motorway and in this regard funds worth Rs 55 billion have been released.

Sharif said that China was interested in construction of Multan-Sukkur Motorway and negotiations are underway in this regard. He said that Khunjrab-Gawadar Highway was also being constructed. Speedy work is in progress to make Gawadar port fully functional.

The prime minister said that despite difficulties, the economy is moving on the right path and economic indicators are much better today as compared to the past. The foreign exchange reserves of the country have shore up to $ 15 billion. He said that the government was trying to further strengthen Pakistani currency. He said that had dharnas not been there, the economy would have been even better.

On this occasion, the prime minister also directed Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) chairman to hold consultation meetings with the eminent traders and leading businessmen of the country and to present suggestions within next ten days on possible reduction of taxes on various items.

During the meeting, the prime minister also called for Private Power Infrastructure Board chairman and directed him to clear all pending power generation projects. The prime minister assured the business community that he would visit Karachi in the coming few days and review law and order situation. In this regard he will also hold consultations with traders, industrialists and other segments of society. The Prime Minister said that the new laws aimed at eliminating terrorism would be implemented in other parts of the country also.