Punjab best for investment: Pervaiz

LAHORE: The President of the Hong Kong Chamber of Commerce and Vice-Chairman of the Board of Investment in Hong Kong Chaudhry Gulzar Muhammad called on Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi at his office and discussed matters of mutual interest on Monday.

The chief minister stated that Punjab has been made the best province in terms of investment in a short period. Barriers to investment have been removed and one window operation facility has been provided for investors. The process of obtaining NOCs for investment has also been simplified, he said and mentioned that foreign investors were coming to invest in various sectors in Punjab due to the business-friendly initiatives. Hong Kong-based investors should also benefit from investment opportunities as they would be provided with every possible facility in Punjab, he added.

The CM cited that the property transfer fee was reduced by 100 percent for the convenience of the people. The property transfer fee was reduced from 2% to 1% across Punjab. He said that Overseas Pakistanis Commission Punjab was activated to protect the rights of overseas Pakistanis. Imran Khan gave the right to vote to overseas Pakistanis during his tenure, he said. It is a pity that the PDM-led federal government took away the right to vote from overseas Pakistanis.

The incumbent federal government is the killer of the rights of Pakistanis living abroad, the CM stated. We consider Pakistanis living abroad as ambassadors of the country and would spare no effort to solve their problems, he said and mentioned that the provincial government has increased the annual development programme of Punjab by Rs50 billion in a short time. The volume of the annual development programme has reached from Rs685 billion to Rs726 billion. The fruit of development would reach the grassroots, he concluded.

Gulzar Muhammad praised the CM's efforts for the convenience of investors. Ticket holder Gibran Khan and Zaigham Gondal were also present.

HYBRID BUSES: The 21st meeting of the Punjab Masstransit Authority was held under the chair of the chief minister at his office on Monday. The Authority MD briefed the meeting about the procurement of new buses. The chief minister stated that new buses would have separate seats for women, the visually-impaired and differently-abled commuters who would be provided seats near the bus entrance. Plying environment-friendly hybrid buses would reduce environmental pollution, and smog while passengers would benefit from a cheap and quality transportation system, he said and noted that exclusive bus stops would also be set up for women commuters in City.