Punjab being made business hub: CM Usman Buzdar

LAHORE: Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar said on Sunday that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government started work on 13 Special Economic Zones (SEZs) and Industrial Estates in just two years, while the previous governments established only three SEZs in 73 years.

He said that sincere endeavours were being made by his government, which had started bearing fruit, according to a handout issued here. About promotion of industries and trade, he said Punjab was now turning into a business hub. He said that within two years, the incumbent government had introduced such industrial reforms which would have been impossible by the previous rulers in even next 70 years.

He said the past rulers did nothing except for embarking on showy projects only to attain cheap popularity. He asserted that economic zones and industrial estates were being established on more than 10,000 acres of land. He said that Allama Iqbal Industrial City would be established in Faisalabad over more than 3,000 acres of land and the project would ensure direct employment opportunities to 300,000 people. Industrial city, he said, would host more than 550 industrial units and the project would prove to be a game-changer.

The chief minister said, "We are bringing international companies to Pakistan and one-window system is being introduced in the industrial estates for facilitation. Industrial reforms by the Punjab government will pave the way for economic revival after the COVID-19 pandemic." He said that infrastructural work was going on in contiguous districts of other provinces for promotion of inter-provincial trade. The economic progress of Punjab would bring about industrial revolution in Pakistan and the whole region, he hoped.