Foreign investment to create jobs, says minister

HARIPUR: Federal Minister for Petroleum Omar Ayub Khan said on Sunday that a number of countries, including Japan, China and some Arab states, had started investing in Pakistan.

He said that the flow of foreign investment to the tune of billions would help create new job opportunities in the country. This he said while speaking to the participants of inaugural ceremony of different developmental project in Khanpur tehsil here. He said the government was committed to providing relief to the people, adding that Prime Minister Imran Khan had directed the federal and provincial authorities to control the price-hike.

He said that the government was giving Rs129 billion subsidy to electricity consumers while Rs103 billion subsidy was given to gas consumers. Blaming the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N’s) previous government for prevailing economic conditions, he said that the past rulers had inflicted a loss of Rs145 billions on the country on account of costly LNG contracts with foreign companies. The national economy suffered a loss of Rs450 billions on account of electricity tariff, he claimed.

About developmental projects for his constituency, the federal minister said that for overcoming the complaints of low voltage in the hilly areas of Khanpur tehsil, a number of villages bordering the federal capital had been linked with Islamabad Electric Supply Company while the other villages were being linked to Suraj Gali-II feeder. He said that the work on Rs600 million project of Khanpur grid station would start soon as the land for it has been acquired from the Khanpur dam authorities. Earlier, he inaugurated different road projects in Khanpur worth Rs5 millions.