President General Pervez Musharraf has appreciated the role of local government representatives in resolving people's problems at the local level and said that the local government system has full potential to bring about a silent revolution at the grassroots level. He was addressing the local government representatives of Sargodha, Mianwali, Khushab and Bhakkar districts at the Circuit House here on Wednesday. Punjab Governor Lieutenant General Khalid Maqbool (Retd), Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi, Federal Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Dr Sher Afgan, provincial ministers Amir Sultan Cheema, Manazar Ali Ranjha and Gul Hameed Rokhari, MNAs, MPAs and other dignitaries were also present on the occasion.
The president said though the system is new, the local government representatives have worked hard and with commitment to make it successful.
He said that a number of steps have been taken to further improve the system and to ensure smooth and harmonious relations among all tiers of the government.
President Musharraf said that amelioration of the lot of the people is the top priority of the government. The government is taking all possible steps and exploring new vistas for this purpose, he added.
"We have recently reached an agreement with China under which it would import 400 items duty-free from Pakistan, which would help in improving trade balance with China and boost our exports."
Stating that Malaysia has shown willingness to import manpower from Pakistan, he said, 100,000 Pakistanis would go to the South East Asian country.
"The selection must be made on merit so that the workforce brings a good name to the country and pave the way for further export of manpower," the president said.
The president said Japan has agreed not only to revive its yen loan to Pakistan, but would also set up high standard technical institutions in the country.
He said establishment of these institutions would help in producing more skilled manpower in the country to meet requirement of the industry and mitigate the problems of unemployment among the youth.
The president said that Islam is a religion of peace, amity and accommodation and there is no room for extremists and extremism in it.
He said Pakistan is the strongest Islamic country in the world and has the full potential to serve as a role model for other Islamic countries by projecting itself as a moderate Islamic state.
Regarding demands raised by Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi in his address of welcome, President Musharraf said that the federal government would provide full support for construction of inter-district and intra-district roads in the districts of Sargodha, Mianwali, Bhakkar and Khushab.
Earlier, the chief minister in his address of welcome appreciated the steps taken by the federal government for the betterment of the people.
He said recent agreement reached with China regarding export of Kinno would go a long way in improving the lot of the people of this area, which is well known for citrus production.
He also spoke about the steps taken by the provincial government for promotion of education and health facilities in these districts. Nazimeen of these districts briefly speaking on the occasion thanked the president for initiating various projects for improving the living standard of the people.