President Pervez Musharraf, emphasising the importance of communication network in national economic development, said on Thursday that a comprehensive plan was underway to provide efficient inter-country and trade linkages with regional countries.
Giving details of the communication infrastructure development projects on a local channel, the president said the North-South road and rail infrastructure was being developed at a fast pace and several projects would be completed in three to four years.
"The communication sector is vital for country's economic progress, development and improved market mechanism," he said and pointed that National Highway Authority was working on several major projects worth Rs 175 billion.
He said with a vibrant economy today the Public Sector Development Programme has risen from a meagre Rs 80 billion in the 90s, to a whooping Rs 520 billion, providing more funds for vital projects. The president mentioned Pakistan's strategic location in the centre of Gulf Central Asian Republics, the shortest route for China's access to the Gulf and India for trade and energy from the Central Asian Republics.
"Pakistan is a trade and energy corridor of this whole region," the president said. He mentioned about the progress on the RCD highway, linking M-1 to Torkham and Jalalabad in Afghanistan, besides the extension of Makran highway linking Gwadar to Iran.
President Musharraf said Pakistan was moving ahead under a comprehensive strategy of expanding its road and rail network. He said the Grand Trunk road, the Indus Highway the Motorways will provide efficient north-south linkage. He however mentioned the weakness in the East-West linkages and said several projects were being implemented to create new links between Balochistan and other provinces and mentioned the progress on the Quetta-Loralai-Multan road and Quetta-Zhob-D I Khan roads.
President Musharraf said the government was concentrating more on the less developed areas and emphasised that its development budget for Balochistan was far more than that of Punjab. He also pointed several farm-to-market roads completed recently were providing quicker mode of transport and yielding better profits for the farmers. He regretted the poor strategic vision of the governments in the past and said adequate resources have now been allocated to undo the neglects of the past.
President Musharraf said Gwadar was a strategic port and was being developed as a major container terminal. He said the 950-km long Gwadar-Turbat-Ratodero would link the port to the Indus Highway, while the Makran Coastal highway already links with Karachi.
Mentioning the rich tourism potential of country's scenic northern areas, the President said several new road links were being carved out of the treacherous mountains to open up remote areas and increase tourism in the country, a sector that has been ignored for decades.
He said the funds for the development of northern areas has risen by 1500 percent to Rs 7.5 billion from Rs 0.5 billion in five years. The president said a road over the Babusar pass will link the Kaghan valley with the Karakoram Highway, while the Chitral valley would remain open around the year with the completion of the Lowari tunnel while also connecting it with Gilgit through the Shandur pass.
He said Gilgit and Skardu were being connected through another road passing through Astore. The president said the NHA was constructing bypass roads for all major cities including Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar, Rawalpindi and working on eight bridges over the Indus river.
President Musharraf also pointed at the importance of railways as an efficient and cheap mode of transportation. He said in the past few years the Pakistan Railways has improved significantly, with several new trains that were transporting people and cargo swiftly.
He however said there was still room for improvement as this vital sector was neglected in the past and said 1500 wagons and 150 locomotives were added to the fleet. The president said work on the new airports at Islamabad, Gwadar and Skardu was underway.
The president to a question agreed that there was a need for more improvement of inter city roads and said the provincial and district governments need to look into this important aspect and address the complaints of the people.
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