Special Assistant to Chief Minister Punjab on Information and Spokesperson to the Punjab Government Hasaan Khawar has said that taking steps towards revival of tourism in the country and fulfillment of the government’s vision of making Pakistan a tourism hub, the Tourism Department today has signed an MoU with Punjab Infrastructure Development Authority under World Bank’s “Punjab Tourism for Economic Growth” program. Under the MoU, Rs 5 billion will be spent on restoration and repair of Taxila Museum, Rohtas Fort and HarnMinar in Punjab.
Talking to media after the ceremony, Special Assistant Chief Minister Punjab Hassan Khawar said that on the special instructions of Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Bazdar, significant steps have been taken for tourism in Punjab including installation of glamping pods at eight tourist spots, zip lining at four places, increase in tourism budget from Rs. 73 crore to Rs. 2 billion and outsourcing 9f 22 tourist spots to private sector.
Apart from this, development of Kotli Sattian and various places in South Punjab as alternative tourist destinations is also part of the same agenda, he stated.
He further said that the Tourism Department is also going to sign MoUs with the Irrigation, Forests and Auqaaf department under which sites of these departments would be developed and used as tourist destinations. On the occasion, Hasaan Khawar said that the present government under the leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan was planning for the future as well as correcting the mistakes of the past.
On Prime Minister Imran Khan’s special directive and tireless efforts of government team brought the 11 billion dollar worth of fine on the RekoDiq project to just 1 billion. Welcoming the participants of the OIC Foreign Ministers’ Meeting on behalf of the Chief Minister of Punjab, Hasaan Khawar hoped that this meeting would prove to be an important milestone towards solution of Muslim Ummah’s problems.
Responding to a question on Bilawal Bhutto’s statements, he said that political point scoring on the sidelines of OIC foreign ministers meeting was inappropriate.
He further said that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has been negating the conspiracies against state institutions from day one.
It is in the national interest for all institutions to be on the same page, he maintained.
