Ahsan says 100 more states ready to join OBOR

• Planning minister says foreigners eager to invest in Pakistan due to economic policies

Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Reforms Ahsan Iqbal on Saturday said that several international investors are eager to invest in the country now due to economic policies of the government, led by Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif.

Addressing National Excellency Awards distribution ceremony organised by the Young Engineers Council on the Engineers Day here, he said that the policies were not responsible for failure but political disability had damaged the economy in the past. He said that conspiracies against Pakistan had been failed.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had approved internship for 20,000 engineers and it was being planned for the next financial year that 100,000 youths would be trained in the information technology. “The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor is a practical picture of Pak-China friendship,” he said.

Ahsan said that participation of 65 countries in the Belt Road Forum in Beijing was an example of success and 100 more countries had requested to join the project. He said that China wanted to make Pakistan an industrial economy, adding that critics would remain crying while Pakistan would make progress.

He said that Pakistani economy was growing speedily and the GDP growth had been reached at 5.3 per cent this year and it was the highest in the last 10 years while it was 3.7 per cent in 2013. The minister said that the biggest investment of history was being made in the energy sector in Pakistan.

“Only 16,000 megawatts electricity had been produced in 66 years of the country’s history while 10,000 megawatts electricity would be inducted in the national grid between 2014 and 2018 (four years),” he told the audience. Ahsan said that a new record was being made in energy distribution and transmission lines.

He said that resources had been expanded and progress could be witnessed in every sector. He said that the Lahore-Karachi Motorway project would be completed in 2018, a revolution in Balochistan had been done due to the construction of roads and highways. The distance covered in 24 hours in the past now it could be covered in just eight hours, he said.

He said that roads were the first step to progress and prosperity as they are helpful in elimination poverty and ignorance. The minister said that the revolutionary power projects were in the last phase of completion, and the Thar coal project could produce energy for 400 years.

About 2000 megawatts electricity would be produced till 2020-2021 from a nuclear power plant which will be able to produce energy round the year. He said that land had been purchased with one billion dollars for the Diamir Bhasha Dam. “It is planned that 30,000 to 40,000 megawatts electricity will be produced from the projects at the Indus River with the help of China,” he said.

He also said that the political stability was important and Pakistan would be among the 25 big economies in 2025 if political stability sustained in the country. “International financial institutions are now saying that Pakistan will be included in top 10 economies if the speed of progress remains the same,” he said.

He stressed the engineers to work hard for the nation and the government would also do its best for the welfare of engineers. Pakistan Engineering Council Chairman Javaid Saleem Qureshi and others also addressed the conference where awards and shields were also given to the prominent performers.