‘Centre, Sindh govt share vision of development in province’

Governor assures businessmen of supporting industrial expansion

Governor Mohammad Zubair assured a delegation of businessmen and industrialists on Tuesday that the federal and Sindh governments shared the vision of full-scale development across the province.

Talking with the delegation at the Governor House, Zubair said that in his capacity as the provincial governor he had been trying his best to maintain amicable ties between the federal and Sindh administrations.

He assured them that the government would provide the utmost support for setting up new industrial units, saying that expansion of industries would translate into new job opportunities and poverty alleviation.

He said that after restoration of law and order in the province, especially in Karachi, prospective foreign businessmen had been taking special interest to invest in the city for launching new initiatives. Similarly, confidence of the local businessmen and industrialists has increased, he added.

Referring to last week’s Sehwan shrine attack, he lamented that terrorists had once again resorted to their usual cowardly act of killing scores of innocent citizens. He, however, expressed contentment that the people were united and had foiled all attempts to disrupt peace.

The governor said he had recently met with Federal Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, who had promised him that the Centre would extend maximum resources and funds for expediting development in Sindh.

He assured the delegation that a meeting would soon be convened between representatives of businessmen and officials of the Federal Board of Revenue for resolving taxation issues of the traders.

Noted industrialist Siraj Kassam Teli, who led the delegation, said the business community had a lot of expectations from Zubair because the governor could help resolve their issues. He stressed that the prosperity of the business community would ensure the prosperity of the province as well as the entire country.

He also invited the governor to inaugurate the Karachi Chamber of Commerce & Industry’s ‘14th My Karachi’ exhibition scheduled for April 7 to 9 at the Expo Centre.

Accepting the invitation, Zubair said he would do his best to secure a prominent position for Karachi on the global business map. The governor also discussed the political situation of the province over the phone with Sindh Taraqi Pasand Party chief Qadir Magsi.

Zubair assured Magsi that the government would take special measures for the development and progress of every district of the province, especially the far-flung areas. He said it was the foremost priority of the administration to extend maximum relief to the people, adding that all the obstacles hampering the goal would be effectively removed.

He stressed on a collective effort and vision for developing Sindh, for which he had started approaching all the relevant political forces and distinguished personalities of the province. The governor said Sindh had always been considered the land of Sufis and saints, who had propagated the message of peace and love, adding that the people of the province, through their unity, would foil every terrorist design to disrupt law and order.

He termed Thursday’s suicide attack at the shrine of Sufi saint Lal Shahbaz Qalandar one such attempt and likened it to an attack on the entire province. He vowed that all available resources would be employed for eliminating anti-peace elements.