Kohat Textile Mills (KTM) Wednesday celebrated golden jubilee of its establishment and organised a function in the mills premises to mark the occasion. Those who attended were included former KP governor Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah, former chief justice Peshawar High Court (PHC) Syed Ibne Ali, Saleem Saifullah Khan, ex-MPA Qalbe Hassan and Deputy Commissioner (DC) Kohat Matiullah while Commissioner Kohat Division Syed Abdul Jabbar Shah was the chief guest on the occasion.
A large number of local elites, suppliers, businessmen, officials of commercial banks and mill workers attended the ceremony. The mill was established by the top businesswoman and politician Kulsoom Saifullah Khan in the year 1969. Addressing the ceremony, KTM CEO Assad Saifullah Khan paid tribute to the founder of the mills and his grand-mother for establishing the factory in the backward area like Kohat for provision of employment to the residents.
Since the establishment, he said the factory had employed 37000 people and played important role in the economic development of the country. He said the sapling planted 50 years ago has now become a big a tree. He attributed the success of the venture to better planning and services of their elders.
The KTM CEO said today the national textile sector is not only facing competition from local industries rather also from other countries. To overcome these challenges, he said the local industries would be required to use modern technology and bring improvement in quality and searching of new markets for the local products.
Speaking on the occasion, Saleem Saifullah Khan, a former Managing Director recalled the cooperation extended by the renowned bankers Yusuf Zuberi and Agha Hassan Abdi in flourishing of the Kohat Textile Mills and urged the government for taking steps to prevent depreciation of rupee.
Speaking on the occasion, the chief guest Commissioner Kohat Division Syed Abdul Jabbar Shah lauded the role of Saifullah family in the industrial development to generate employment opportunities for the people. In this regard, he especially mentioned the establishment of Lucky Cement, which had provided employment opportunity for thousands of people. He requested to also make investment in the merged districts of the erstwhile FATA. The participants of ceremony lauded the services rendered by the founder of Saif Group Kulsoom Saifullah Khan and prayed for her eternal peace.