Pakistan Railways (PR) has been directed to immediately stop leasing its land for longer periods and PR would work out exploiting these commercially viable lands through joint ventures on equity sharing basis.
This was stated by federal minister for Railways Sardar Mehtab Ahmed Khan during a meeting with NLC delegation headed by its headed by its director general Lieutenant General Afzal Muzaffar, which called on him here on Saturday.
The government initiatives to bring peace in the bordering regions would create a lot of opportunities for trade and investment. PR would have to develop and improve its infrastructure to grasp these opportunities of huge freight transportation and logistics in these areas, he said.
The minister said that PR would engage reputable national and international firms to invest in freight operations and other commercial activities to extract more revenues and bring efficiency in the system. He said that curtailing operational deficits and achievement of fiscal targets in the minimum possible time is his priority.
The Minister said that PR with the co-operation of private sector would extend its rail network to the border trade regions adjacent to Iran, Afghanistan and India. He also encouraged NLC to create avenues of economic activities in Khokarpar Munapbao region where Pakistan Railways has invested Rs 1.8 billion in laying new track to link India.
Sardar Mahtab Ahmed said that despite making holistic efforts by Pakistan Railways over the last few years, it could manage to handle only 4 percent of the total freight business activity.
The scope is tremendous and opportunities for growth are unlimited, as Pakistan would emerge as businesses hub between Europe, Central and Middle East in the coming years. The Minister said that marketing department of Pakistan Railways would be restructured in line with the modern trends to maximise profits from non-core activities in railways.
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