Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Wednesday that foreign investors are keen to invest in Pakistan, adding that the country's economic situation will start improving soon. Speaking as chief guest at national symposium on 'Alarming Population, Growth in Pakistan: Call for Action' organised here by the Law and Justice Comm-ission of Pakistan, the Prime Minister said that the government would launch a campaign to control population. He said that economic situation is not in a good state at present because of indebtedness but sounded optimistic that situation would start improving soon given the interest of foreign companies in making investment in Pakistan. "Foreign investors are keen to invest in Pakistan," he further said.
The Prime Minister stated that the Supreme Court and Chief Justice of Pakistan have laid the foundation of a 'New Pakistan' by establishing rule of law and making those accountable who were sitting at the highest office and no one would be able to reverse this trend of accountability.
He said that foundation of a civilised society was laid in the tenure of the Chief Justice through landmark judgement in the Panama Leaks case and a new beginning has been started while process of accountability is continuing in the tenure of present government.
The Prime Minister said that only those societies move forward where there is rule of law and referred to various examples in this regard, adding that democracy and rule of law go along.
The rule of law was the basis of the State of Medina, he said, adding institutions are becoming autonomous now and this is evident from the Bani Gala case where Capital Development Authority (CDA), despite being under his control, is informing the Chief Justice as to where Imran Khan has done wrong in construction of his house.
The Prime Minister said that dams could not be constructed because democratic governments' planning was limited to five years for election expediency whereas construction of dams is a long process. He said that Pakistan is unable to handle the issue of water scarcity because of short-term planning and big dams were constructed during the tenure of Ayub Khan because his government was not restricted to five years.
He further stated that six legislations have been finalised and will soon be presented in the Parliament to update and revamp the outdated civil procedure and criminal law. The Prime Minister said that impact of population growth on environment is very serious and there is a need that environment and population planning be made part of curricula to teach the student as to why these are important for Pakistan.
The Prime Minister said that climate change is directly linked to the population and greeneries. He said trees are rapidly disappearing in the country and provinces are on board to launch awareness campaign under the initiative taken by Chief Justice Saqib Nisar to control the population.
He said that Ulema's role is very important and awareness has to be created from mosques with regard to impact of population growth on the life of the people.
Chairperson Benazir Income Support Programme Dr Sanya Nishtar, Secretary Ministry of National Health Services Zahid Saeed, former minister Syed Babar Ali, former minister Javed Jabbar and Dr John, member of Population Council, also spoke on the gravity of the issues and emphasised on taking initiatives to deal with the problem.