Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Thursday said the country’s exports have witnessed a 6.2 per cent increase last year and owing to government’s effective strategy, these would go up to 30 per cent next year.
He was addressing the 40th Exports Award ceremony of the Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) here at the Pakistan-China Friendship Centre.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif spoke at length about the grave challenges his government inherited and said difficult decisions were taken to help steer the country out of problems. The PM said that the positive results were now visible in all spheres, showing enhanced growth and progress.
He said the government’s focus was now on growth and assured that all the necessary resources would be made available to the industrial, agricultural and other sectors. He said the creation of new jobs was part of his government’s agenda, besides ending poverty and providing better health and education services.
He said the operation to restore peace in Karachi would continue and the port city’s stature of country’s major business hub would be further boosted. He said once the remotest area of Balochistan – Gwadar has turned into a game changer and was being linked with major trade centers of the country and with China.
He said the PML-N government took the first step in progress of Balochistan by allowing the political parties to choose their own setup, without any interference. Similarly, Nawaz Sharif said the PML-N would have easily formed a government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with the cooperation of Maulana Fazlur Rehman, but offered PTI to form their own government.
However, he pointed that it was the federal government that was undertaking all the mega development projects, besides tackling the issue of terrorism, and said the tall claims of the provincial government have failed to materialise.
He said besides major road development projects, the government was extending the six-lane motorway from Karachi to Peshawar, and said various sections were already completed, while work on remaining was in various phases of completion.
Nawaz Sharif pointed out that a revolution has been brought in through a series of road network projects that would link not only different regions of the country, but would also connect with international borders to boost connectivity and country’s trade.
He said the country faced grave issue of power outages of up to 18 hours a day, but with great team work and efforts the long hours of loadshedding have been reduced considerably.
He said his government looked way beyond 2018 and was taking long term steps to make the country self sufficient in electricity generation.
He said his government was working on mega projects with a commitment and zeal and said he was proud to note that not even corruption scandal of a penny has surfaced during his tenure.
Referring to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), Sharif said a number of energy and other projects would not only generate employment but also boost its industrial growth.
He referred to the Thar Coal project and said it would generate power but also meet long term needs of the country. He said it would also help lower the cost of power generation and the benefit would be passed on to the masses. Pm Sharif referred to the mega Diamir-Bhasha dam project and said it would generate 4500 MW electricity.
The PM on a demand of the traders asked them to come up with their proposals about the Amnesty Scheme and said the government would review their suggestions.
Speaking on the occasion, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said the country has made remarkable progress in economy, it has stabilised and been acknowledged by leading global financial institutions.
He lauded Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for his vision and for taking out economy out of its dismal state.
He said the pending development projects of past 15 years have been revived and were progressing satisfactorily.
Dar said another 10,000 MWs would be added to the national grid by March 2018, and would fulfill yet another promise of the prime minister made to the people of the country.
Prime Minister Nawaz handed over Export Award trophies for outstanding performance to different industrialists.
