Dream of economic development, progress and prosperity cannot be realised without maintaining peace. Agitations and dharnas will push the country back besides denting its soft image at the global level. This was crux of the speeches delivered at a seminar on "Peaceful Pakistan - Prosperous Pakistan" organised by the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Thursday.
Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif was the chief guest while the LCCI office-bearers, General Secretary Anjuman-e-Tajran Pakistan Naeem Mir, President Anjuman-e-Tajran All Pakistan Khalid Pervaiz, President Anjuman-e-Tajran Rawalpindi Ajmal Baloch and Chairman APTMA Aamir Fayyaz Sheikh were the key speakers amongst others. Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif said nothing could be more important than maintenance of peace but unfortunately some political elements were trying to create anarchy to fulfil the agenda of enemies.
He said the CPEC agreement was due to be signed in 2014 but the Chinese president cancelled his visit because of dharna. The chief minister said the elements, who are doing the politics of agitation, want to derail the country and hindering the Pakistan's journey towards progress and prosperity. He said all conspiracies to damage the CPEC would be dealt with iron hands. He said economy and energy availability situation is far better than the past.
"Living nations counter all challenges with courage and determination and the same spirit will have to be adopted to put the country on road to progress and development," Shahbaz Sharif added. LCCI President Abdul Basit said that no one can deny the importance of peace for economic growth. He said unrest and bad law and order badly affect the trade and economic activities and investment climate. While giving an overview, he said total foreign exchange reserves were around $11 billion in 2013 which have reached an unprecedented level of $24 billion. Mark-up rate came down to 5.75 percent from 9.5 percent in 2013. Likewise, inflation rate is also at the lowest, investment has been risen to $11,281 million and unemployment has been decreased to 5.9 percent from 6.2 percent. He said the GDP and per capita income of Pakistan are also growing. He said the entire world is monitoring the China Pakistan Economic Corridor and a number of countries want to be part of it.
On the occasion, businessmen also passed a resolution saying that traders are patriotic and would not hesitate to sacrifice for the country's integrity and stability. They would vigorously supplement the government efforts for economic uplift of the country, will extend cooperation to the government for peace, strictly condemn the politics of vested interest and would not tolerate any attempt to hit the trade, industry and investment. At the end, the Convener CPEC Study Group, Punjab University, Dr Hafiz Zafar delivered his presentation on the CPEC.
Comments
Comments are closed.