PUNJAB Chief Minister Usman Buzdar had a successful visit to Dubai as he made a strong case for investment in Punjab and an agreement was signed with Dhabi Group for an investment of Rs.60 billion in the province.
During his meeting with United Arab Emirates (UAE) Minister Sheikh Nahyan Bin Mubarak the latter announced making mega investment in the construction sector of Punjab.
Criticism by vested interests notwithstanding, the fact remains that Usman Buzdar has always remained instrumental in ameliorating the lot of the people and accelerating the pace of developmental activities in the length and breadth of the province.
In this backdrop, his interaction with prospective investors assumes greater significance as the Buzdar government has embarked upon several important projects and programmes where increased foreign investment can make a real difference.
The Ravi Urban Development project and Central Business District at Walton in Lahore have the potential not only to transform the landscape of the mega city but also promote the overall economic activities in the province besides creating thousands of employment opportunities.
Similarly, his Government is making sincere efforts to remove bottlenecks in the way of establishment of special economic zones and hopefully these would attract foreign investors including those from the UAE, which is already actively involved in the development of different sectors of Pakistan’s economy.
The Government of Pakistan is offering lucrative incentives for investment in the construction sector and it is hoped that the Punjab Government would establish contacts with renowned construction groups in countries like the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Turkey as their involvement could help meet the growing demand for houses.
A visit to the southern Punjab gives a glimpse of socio-economic changes that took place during the last three and a half years due to increased focus and allocation of more resources for the development of the region, especially in terms of improvement of infrastructure and construction of medical and educational institutions.
The Chief Minister can carve out a special place for him in the history of the province if he also succeeds in giving push to the stalled projects of the Potohar region – Tourism Highway, Rawalpindi Ring Road and Leh Expressway – as these would give a fillip to socio-economic activities in the area.
