PM wants exporters to reach Rs 100 bn mark

LAHORE: Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Sunday said the Endowment Fund of Government College University (GCU) was doing a great job to facilitate the deserving students.

He said this while addressing the Endowment Fund Trust’s annual function here at the Government College University. The prime minister announced Rs 50 million for the fund on behalf of the federal government and said resources played a significant role in delivering quality education.

Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb and Punjab Governor Rafique Rajwana were present. Later, the PM visited the Services Hospital to inquire after Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal. Foreign and Defence Minister Khurram Dastagir accompanied him. He stayed with the ailing minister for some time and prayed for his early recovery.

Meanwhile, at a ceremony held by the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industries, Abbasi presented Lahore Qalandars’ Fawad Rana with a medal and a glittering emblem of Minar-e-Pakistan. In acknowledgement of Lahore Qalandars’ developmental efforts, Fawad Rana – the chairman of the franchise – was conferred with the Pride of Lahore Achievement award. Qalandars’ head coach Aqib Javed was also awarded a special medal for his services.

The PM said the country had immense potential to compete in the global market and Pakistani exporters should increase their exports to at least Rs 100 billion. He said the government had already met the demands of investors and exporters and now it was up to them to enhance the exports volume.

He said three-month exports incentives announced by the government were now paying dividends and hinted that the incentives period could be enhanced to three years. He hoped that the measures taken by the government would increase the tax net.

He said the general elections would be held in July and the masses would decide the fate of political parties. As a result of their decision, a new government would be formed and mandated to function for its constitutional term.

He said under the vision of PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif, the government executed uplift projects worth billions of rupees throughout the country. There was not a single week in which he was not inaugurating development projects worth billions of rupees.

The PML-N government, he said, completed energy projects and increased the length of motorways to 1700km. He said the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) would give a tremendous boost to business and investment activities and called upon the exporters to take benefit from economic zones. He said the next government would have the prerogative to amend the budget presented by the PML-N government. He, however, said the PML-N would form the next government.