Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah on Friday said that his government was making the best use of available resources to upgrade the infrastructure of the city and to restore its glory within shortest possible time.
“Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) owns Karachi. We shall not abandon the capital of Sindh and shall restore its glory,” he said, while speaking at the inaugural ceremony of 14th ‘My Karachi: Oasis of Harmony’ international trade exhibition at Karachi Expo Centre.
The expo would continue till April 9. The timing was 9 am to 8 pm.
Sindh Industries Minister Manzoor Wassan also accompanied the CM. Besides a group of diplomats and Trade Development Authority of Pakistan CEO SM Muneer, KCCI President Shamim Ahmed Firpo, Chairman of Businessmen Group in KCCI and former president KCCI Siraj Kassam Teli, former presidents KCCI Muhammad Zubair Motiwala, AQ Khalil and Younas M Bashir, and former vice president Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry Engr MA Jabbar were prominent in the cluster of the business community.
On the demand by Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industries (KCCI) leadership, the chief minister revealed that Sindh government was already working on the feasibility for construction of a convention-cum-expo centre in the city to facilitate promotion of trade and investment by projecting the true potential of Pakistan.
He said the law and order situation had significantly improved, and Karachi was regaining its glamour again. Nowadays, he continued, the hotels here were full to their capacity with foreigners, including traders and investors.
“We shall make Karachi an ideal city for trade and investment,” he added.
He appreciated KCCI leadership for taking this important initiative of hosting My Karachi international exhibition every year since 2004, which had succeeded in achieving its objectives of promoting a soft image of Pakistan in the world and marketing Pakistani products in regional and international markets.
On orientation by former president KCCI and former Sindh Board of Investment chairman Muhammad Zubair Motiwala, the chief minister assured that he would pursue the federal government to settle the issue of gas infrastructure development cess (GIDC) to the satisfaction of all the stakeholders.
Syed Murad Ali Shah also said that he would take up the issue of certain taxes as, what he claimed, the provinces had right to collect these.
The business community complained that they were paying taxes in excess—levied by the federation and the provinces.
Sindh CM assured that the development work in the city was going at a fast pace and many projects would be completed within the next three months.
For the development projects/schemes of the fiscal year 2017-18, he affirmed, the funds would be released in July, the very next month of the annual budget so that the projects could be taken up and completed on schedule.
He said Rs25 million K-4 mega water supply scheme for the city would be completed soon.
