Govt to complete its term, elections to be held in July 2018: PM Abbasi

• Addresses ground-breaking ceremony of Hyundai car plant in Faisalabad
• Says industrialization gained momentum as govt successfully eliminated energy shortage

FAISALABAD: Prime Minister (PM) Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Wednesday categorically stated the PML-N government would complete its term and the general election would be held on July 15, 2018.

He said this while addressing the ground-breaking ceremony of Hyundai car plant here. The car assembly plant is a joint venture of Nishat Mills Limited (NML), one of the largest integrated textiles mills in the country, and Hyundai Motor Corporation (HMC) of South Korea.
NML’s joint venture will produce HMC passenger cars and 1-tonne range commercial vehicles in Pakistan.

The prime minister said the establishment of the car plant by Hyundai showed the trust of investors in Pakistan, as well as the government’s sustained policies which had created a conducive environment for investors. He added that this investment was also a manifestation of the fact that the government’s business-friendly policies had started bringing positive results.

He highlighted the PML-N government’s achievements over the last few years, particularly in the area of energy, and said that a number of electricity generation projects were installed which addressed the issue of electricity shortage.

PM Abbasi also mentioned the constructions of roads, highways and motorways across the country, as well as the establishment of gas terminals during the last four and a half years and said that the present government did not just utter words but delivered. He also spoke about Pakistan’s privatization policy and said that the transparent privatisation of MCB Bank in the 1990s – the first in the privatisation of financial institutions – was a success story.

The prime minister hoped that the establishment of Hyundai car plant in Faisalabad would help to augment the industrial activity in the country.

Addressing the members of the Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (FCCI) soon after performing the groundbreaking ceremony of car assembly plant of Hyundai Nishat Motors, PM Abbasi said that industrialization had gained momentum in the country as the government had successfully reined in the problem of energy shortage.

He said that the government had fulfilled its commitment of overcoming electricity and gas shortage, and now its focus was to cut the cost of doing business, particularly for the industrial.

Underlining the importance of industrialization, he said that private sector had to play its role for the establishment of new industrial units as the government had ensured a continuous supply of gas and electricity.

“We are now concentrating to make energy affordable for industries,” he said adding that its cost had been increased due to ill-conceived policies of previous governments. He added that the government would facilitate the private sector by providing the best possible infrastructure in the shape of state-of-the-art industrial estates and motorways etc.