FAISALABAD - Punjab Governor Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar Sunday said that progress and prosperity of the country was directly linked with the business community and the government was committed to resolve their genuine issues on a top priority basis.
Talking to a delegation of the Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FCCI) here, he said the private sector was the engine of growth for the national economy.
“It not only creates much needed jobs for the youth but also earns precious foreign exchange in addition to paying taxes for the national kitty”, he said and added that he had always advocated problems of businessmen and would continue this practice during this tenure.
Regarding gas issue, the governor said that he had already discussed the issue with Prime Minister Imran Khan and Federal Minister for Petroleum Ghulam Sarwar Khan and hopefully the issue would be resolved very soon.
He also discussed the issue of provision of clean drinking water and said that he had inaugurated five filtration plants, including one in central jail on Sunday. He said that the business community should also come forward in this connection so that this basic pubic need could be fulfilled.
He said that export was one of the top priorities of the government and it was considering proposals to increase export and decrease imports.
He agreed with proposal that the government should have a meeting with office bears of export association so that exports could be increased in consultation with real stakeholders.
Earlier, President FCCI Syed Zia Alumdare Hussain presented his written submissions and said that today the hottest issue was electricity and gas. He also stressed the need to revive sick units as they could start immediate production whereas new industrial units would have to first import new machinery and then start production. He also demanded a top of the line social security hospital in Faisalabad and dispensaries in all industrial clusters of Faisalabad.
Mian Muhammad Idrees and Zahid Nazir were also present while Syed Zia Alumdar Hussain presented a cheque worth Rs five million for Dam Fund to the governor.
Later, the governor also inaugurated the Chiniot Campus of GC University and said that education stands on top of the government priorities and hence he would try his optimum best to improve quality of education in the province.