Prime Minister's Adviser on finance Dr Salman Shah said on Thursday that Pakistan is rapidly moving towards a major expansion in the engineering sector and it has achieved considerable growth of automobile industry.
He said "Pakistan aims to be a major manufacturing country so that it can create jobs for millions of young people. Until now textile products were the traditional items of export, but the economy was now integrating with the global market.
The adviser stated this in a meeting with a delegation of International Finance Corporation (IFC) led by Vice President of Industries Declan Duff, which called on him here on Thursday. The delegation briefed the adviser about its investment in different sectors like banking, oil and gas, education, infrastructure and power generation.
Salman Shah informed the delegation that Pakistan has achieved considerable success in economic growth, but still there was a huge potential to fully develop the manpower available in the country.
He said an information technology revolution is taking place in the country and there was a great potential in the power, oil and gas sectors, adding that the Gwadar Port has the potential of becoming a future oil port in the region.
He stressed the need for strengthening the private sector to enable it to achieve rapid growth and create employment opportunities. Pakistan was committed to creating an environment in which the private sector could become an effective engine of growth, he said.
The adviser said there were vast opportunities of investment in education, communications and infrastructure. He informed the delegation about setting up of Infrastructure Fund by the government.
While referring to the construction of motorways and highways, he stressed the need for developing commercial and industrial activities along these roads so that these could supplement the revenue generated by traffic and transport.
He said that strategic locations be identified to set up commercial and industrial zones, and hoped that the co-operation between the IFC and Pakistan would further expand as Pakistan has a lot of potential for investment in different sectors.