MULTAN City News

UK companies keen to establish ties
with Pak traders: DFID chief
From Our Correspondent
MULTAN: Head of Department for International Development (DFID) Ben French Thursday said several UK well-reputed companies were keen to develop business and trade ties with Pakistani traders.
Ben French stated this during his meeting with Multan Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Mian Iqbal Hassan.
Ben said the UK companies want to facilitate traders of Multan region.
He said they were working in Pakistan to reduce poverty and help build a prosperous and stable country. In Pakistan more than 60 million people live in extreme poverty and 12 million children are out of schools.
He said entrenched poverty is denying opportunities to millions of people and undermining Pakistan’s long-term stability and prosperity.
Ben said: “Combating poverty and building a prosperous democratic Pakistan will help not only millions of poor Pakistanis, but it will also improve stability in the country, the region and beyond.
Highlighting the responsibilities of the DFID, he said it includes honouring UK’s international commitments and taking action to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, making British aid more effective by improving transparency, openness and value for money, improving the lives of girls and women through better education and a greater choice on family planning, preventing violence against girls and women in the developing world and helping to prevent climate change.
Iqbal said the UK should provide/transfer technology for the preservation of fruits like mango, citrus, etc.
He said law and order situation was improving rapidly in Pakistan.
Mirza Ali Ahmed, Vice President, Mian Ata Shafi Tanvir Sheikh, Maj (retd) Tariq Khan, Sheikh Zuhaib Shafqat, Mian Fareed Mughis Sheikh, Mian Shafi Anis Sheikh and Muhammad Ali Shafqat and UK’s Trade Investment Manager Waqarullah also joined the discussion.