Ahsan Iqbal interacts with expatriate Pakistanis in Norway
Minister says Pakistan was ranked among the fastest emerging economies in Asia
Minister for Interior, Planning, Development and Reforms Ahsan Iqbal on Friday said that Pakistan has become one of the top five economies in the world which have shown the highest growth rate in the last five years.
The minister said this during interaction with Pakistani-Norwegians which was organised by the Pak Embassy here, said a press release. Ahsan is on official visit to Norway.
Highlighting Pakistan’s rapid economic development, the minister said a few years ago, Pakistan was not considered the safest place in the world, but now it was ranked among the fastest emerging economies in Asia.
The economic growth of the country had stagnated at 3 per cent when this government came into power. Last year, we achieved a growth rate of 5.3 per cent and we were expecting it to reach the figure of 6 per cent this year, he said adding that the industrial growth had significantly increased due to addition of 11,000 MW electricity to the national grid.
Referring to law and order situation in the country, Ahsan Iqbal said Karachi had lost its status as a business and investment hub but now target killings, land mafias and the culture of extortion were becoming a thing of the past. More than a hundred factories had resumed operation reviving the entire economy of Karachi, he added.
Similarly, the minister said, the situation in Balochistan had improved due to unprecedented number of development projects initiated in the province. China-Pakistan Economic Corridor(CPEC), he said, was a game-changer as more than $46 billion worth projects were being implemented, out of which investments worth $29 billion have been materialised.
Earlier in the day, Ahsan Iqbal held substantive and fruitful discussions with his Norwegian counterpart Sylvia Listaug and State Secretary Halvorsen in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on bilateral issues.
Highlighting the role and sacrifices made by Pakistan in fight against terrorism, the minister sought Norway’s support at the upcoming meeting of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) scheduled to be held in Paris. He stressed that any move to place Pakistan in the “grey” list by the international community would be counterproductive and would undermine the extensive work that Pakistan had carried out under the National Action Plan to thwart extremism and terrorism.
