Daily Times

Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday announced to give industry status to warehouse and logistics, directing the concerned authorities to fulfill all necessary legal requirements in that regard.

The announcement was made during a meeting of the representatives of chambers of commerce and associations of various industries and businesses from across the country with the prime minister.

The business community expressed its gratitude to the prime minister for fulfilling their long-standing demand, which was pending at various forums.

The prime minister said that the economy was on the recovery track and the government was working for more economic stability.

He said the economy was being fully digitized and work to digitize the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) had already been started.

The foreign investment would increase only with the increase of local investment in Pakistan, he added. The prime minister said “during my upcoming visit to China, I will invite the Chinese industry to set up industries in Pakistan.” The government, he said was taking steps to provide a business-friendly environment in the country.

“The inflation has reduced due to the prudent government policies,” he added.

The prime minister also expressed the government’s commitment to encourage new projects in alternative energy, especially solar energy, to bring down electricity prices in the country.

He informed that work on outsourcing of three major airports had started.

The prime minister said except few strategic state owned enterprises (SOEs), all the enterprises were being privatized to save losses of billions of rupees.

He also expressed satisfaction over the better growth rate of IT industry.

Third party validation was being conducted to check the performance of trade and investment officers posted abroad, he added.

Assuring the delegation to resolve all their legitimate demands and issues, the prime minister asked the federal ministers to hold detailed discussions with all the industrial sectors.

The business community assured the prime minister of their full support to the government in terms of improving the economy and expanding the tax net.

The meeting was attended by Commerce Minister Jam Kamal Khan, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, Minister for Industries and Production Rana Tanveer Hussain, Minister of State Ali Pervaiz Malik, Coordinator to the PM Rana Ehsaan Afzal, Chairman Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and other high officials.