National consensus, imperative for country's progress: President Alvi

Pakistan steered out of difficult times and economy was poised to have growth momentum within months

FAISALABAD (Web Desk) – President Dr Arif Alvi on Thursday called upon the private sector to play proactive role in materializing the coveted dream-cum-national goal of an economically vibrant Pakistan.

He said political maturity called for consensus in the interest of nation-building as the country was at the launching stage of the process, which will eventually lead to an economically robust and strong country.

He was addressing Business Excellence Award distribution ceremony, arranged by Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FCCI).

The President underlined the importance of corporate sector and acknowledged that flourishing business activity created new job opportunities, besides enhancing foreign exchange.

He termed Pakistan as one of the most generous countries in the world since it accommodated more than 3.5 million Afghan refugees, saying two million were still residing in the country.

He compared this gesture to some other highly “developed countries” which were not willing to welcome refugees.

President Alvi said Pakistan, with its limited resources, did play an unprecedented role for refugees, adding, “We are proud of this”, as this ensures a very prestigious position for the country in the comity of nations.

About recent tension between Pakistan and India, he said Indian leaders, civil society and their media were creating war hysteria, whereas Pakistanis proved unanimously that they were peace-loving people.

He said Pakistan has successfully overcome menace of extremism and terrorism.”We are lucky that we have overcome it with great sacrifices and fortitude”, he added.

In this context, he said this must be seen as political maturity and international community must recognize this accomplishment. He said that Pakistan had steered out of difficult times and the economy was poised to have growth momentum within months, and not in years. He said the government was committed to providing ‘ease of doing business’, besides improving its ranking on international index.

Highlighting vital role of IT sector, President Alvi said that it could transform the economy by engaging neglected segments, especially women. About progress in agriculture sector, he said that it had huge potential for growth but there was a need to re-align top priorities in order to fulfill the requirements of agrarian community.

President Arif Alvi said the government had chalked out a programme under which agriculture graduates will work at farms to get practical knowledge of agri practices. He said that tourism was yet another sector which could boost the economy. Back in 2015 only 1500 tourists visited Gilgit and Baltistan whereas some 2.4 million tourists had visited the GB so far after the improvement of security situation, he added.

The President said the government was committed to ensuring education across the country, especially for those 20 million children who were still out of schools.

He assured that he will take up issues of setting up IT University and High Court Bench in Faisalabad.

Earlier, in his welcome address, Syed Zia Alumdar Hussain President FCCI briefed about Faisalabad city and FCCI and said the apex body was serving the business community of Faisalabad for the last 44 years.

He paid tributes to the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan and appreciated that he was working hard to materialise national dream of “economic sovereignty”.

He also lauded economic policies of present government and said that despite critical economic situation it inherited from the previous government, the tariffs for gas and electricity tariff were reduced for five main export sectors.

He also highlighted various problems confronted by the business community of Faisalabad and called for establishing IT University, bench of Lahore High Court as well as up-gradation Faisalabad International Airport.

Provincial Minister for Industries, Commerce and Investment Mian Aslam Iqbal also addressed the function, while FCCI member Amin Alsam presented a piece of ‘Ghalaf-e-Kaaba’ to President Arif Alvi on the occasion. Earlier, the President gave Business Excellence Awards to industrialists and traders on outstanding performance in different sectors.