Federal Information Minister Pervaiz Rasheed said Saturday said that Pakistan would have 4 times more energy than the requirement in a period of four years. "We have plans to add up 10,400 megawatt electricity to the system by the end of 2017 that would help mitigating the impact of load shedding on industrial growth," he added. He was talking to media after inaugurating Punjab's biggest B2B value added textile exhibition at the Expo Centre Lahore.
He said the federal government has posted a reference against Altaf Hussain to the British government. "We have stated in the reference that he provoked an attack on three media houses through his speech that led to the death of a citizen in Karachi," he added.
When asked about invoking the Article 6 against Altaf Hussain, he said: "Altaf Hussain is a British citizen and he would be tried under the British laws." He lauded sacrifices of Pakistan Rangers, police force and other agencies to maintain law and order in Karachi. "The Londoner cannot announce a strike or a shutter down now," he added.
He said China has allocated $36 billion for energy projects to overcome load shedding and keep the industry wheel moving in Pakistan," he said. "Development work on these projects is in progress and the speed of these projects has inspired the Chinese leadership to the extent that they have named this pace of work as Punjab speed."
He expressed the hoped that the availability of energy would bring more business, more jobs and more economic expansion to the prosperity of the people of Pakistan. He mentioned about zero load-shedding in the textile sector and added that the government would supply cheap energy to the industry. "We are reducing tariff day by day and the completion of coal and gas based projects by the next year would lead to further reduction in tariff for domestic, commercial and industrial consumers."
He said Pakistan was once known for terrorism and seeking loans from the international community. "We have changed this trend and earned a word of praise from across the world." He said a strong communication system and a foolproof security are equally essential for economic uplift of the country.
He said Pakistan and Afghanistan were the only countries in region showing a dismal GDP growth of less than seven percent. "Pakistan was well ahead of India during the nineties when General Pervez Musharraf took over the government by force," he added. He said the present government has plugged the holes and foreign exchange reserves have reached to $23 billion after a goodbye to the IMF. "Pakistan has defeated a default like situation," he added.