LAHORE - Special Assistant to Chief Minister (SACM) on Information Hasaan Khawar said on Monday that the Tourism Department had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Punjab Infrastructure Development Authority under the World Bank’s “Punjab Tourism for Economic Growth” programme.
He said that the MoU was another step towards the revival of tourism in the country and fulfillment of the government’s vision of making Pakistan a tourism hub.
“Under the MoU, Rs5 billion will be spent on the restoration and repair of Taxila Museum, Rohtas Fort and Hiran Minar in Punjab,” he added.
Later, talking to the media, Hassan Khawar said that on the special instructions of Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Bazdar, significant steps had been taken for the promotion of tourism in Punjab besides establishing glamping pods at eight tourist spots, installing zip lining at four places, increasing tourism budget up to Rs2 billion and outsourcing 22 tourist spots to private sector. “Apart from this, development of Kotli Sattian and various places in southern Punjab as alternative tourist destinations is also part of the agenda to strengthening tourism,” he added. He said that the Tourism Department was also going to sign MoUs with the Irrigation, Forest and Auqaf departments under which sites of those departments would be developed and used as tourist destinations. Hasaan Khawar, welcoming the participants in the OIC Foreign Ministers’ meeting on behalf of the Punjab Chief Minister, hoped that the meeting would prove to be an important milestone towards solving Muslim Ummah’s problems.