Daily Times

Caretaker Chief Minister Punjab Mohsin Naqvi has sought a plan to bring improvements in livestock and dairy development across Punjab.

He was presiding over a meeting at the CM Office in which steps to increase livestock production along with increasing livestock exports were reviewed.

It was decided during the meeting to take steps on an emergency basis for the promotion of meat and poultry industry in Punjab.Caretaker CM while directing to formulate a comprehensive policy with regard to meat export stated that obstacles in the promotion of beef,mutton and poultry industry will be removed.

It was principally decided during the meeting to declare Bahawalpur division as ”Meat Division” of Punjab. The CM was informed that huge foreign exchange can be earned with the export of meat and poultry in Punjab. Latest modus operandis of semen protection,farm management and vaccinations are essential to adopt. Halal certification of livestock production and traceability is a mandatory step for exports. Punjab province has the capability to export livestock and dairy products to Saudi Arabia and China.

Poultry industry will have to be driven towards latest mechanisation.

Fawad Mukhtar,Naveed Iqbal and Professor Talat Naseer Pasha gave a briefing and put forth their recommendations. Provincial Minister Ibrahim Hassan Murad,Chief Secretary,Chairman Planning & Development,Secretary Local Government,Secretary Finance and concerned officials attended the meeting.

Renowned businessman Syed Yawar Ali participated in the meeting via video link.

Lahore’s first ‘Diplomatic Enclave’ to be established in CBD soon: The Punjab Central Business District Development Authority (PCBDDA), also known as Central Business District Punjab (CBD Punjab), an authority working on modern urbanisation and vertical expansion, has decided to establish a first-ever ‘Diplomatic Enclave’, which will help showcase a unique approach in the cultural and diplomatic ‘Residencia’ while exhibiting the architectural legacy of the province of Punjab.

Various construction and real estate experts told APP that after construction of ‘Diplomatic Enclave’, the CBD project would become more significant.

The CBD officials said that many other countries had shown interest in establishing or shifting their existing consulates to the Business District. In this connection, the PCBDDA has moved a summary to the Punjab government (Board of Revenue) for approval, they said.

Meanwhile, there is a plan to shift the US Consulate General, located on the Empress Road, to the Central Business District (CBD) also, as the diplomats concerned, in a meeting, showed interest in purchasing a piece of land in the area, the sources added.

Earlier, during 2016, the Punjab government had offered the US authorities a chunk of land in the LDA City Housing Scheme for shifting its consulate there, but the plan did not materialise.

The CBD administration has offered the US Consulate administration a piece of urban land measuring 100 kanals in the CBD’s ‘Baab-e-Pakistan’ district, sources told APP.

China and Saudi Arabia also had shown interest in establishing their consulates in the LDA City project, but later China established its consulate in Muslim Town.

Muhammad Umar, a noted architecture engineer told APP that Punjab, being the largest province in terms of economy and population with a huge pool of skilled workforce, had always possessed immense potential for investment, adding that the CBD Punjab, at the moment, is driving the said potential.

“We have investment opportunities not just in vertical development, but also in energy, health, hospitality, entertainment, and retail infrastructure to explore,” he added.