KP businessman Ghulam Sarwar Khan elected chairman PIDC board of directors

PESHAWAR: Well-known businessman and industrialist Ghulam Sarwar Khan has been unanimously elected as the chairman of Pakistan Industrial Development Corporation (PIDC) for a period of three years by its board of directors.

A press release said the PIDC board of directors made the decision in its 134th meeting held at the Ministry of Industries and Production in Islamabad. It is the first time in the history of PIDC that any member belonging to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province has been elected as the chairman PIDC. Ghulam Sarwar Khan has twice served as the president of Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI). He also remained the chairman Board of Directors of Utility Stores Corporation Pakistan and other important boards both at provincial and federal level.

The PIDC board of directors meeting was attended by Capt. Saeed Nawaz, Additional Secretary Ministry of Industries and Production, Dr. Imran Ullah, Joint Secretary Ministry of Finance, Rizwan Bhatti CEO PIDC, Hashim Raza CEO SMEDA, Ghulam Sarwar Khan, Muhammad Ishaq Butt, Prince Muhammad Essa Jan Baloch, Muhammad Iqbal Tabish, Sh. Lutifur Rehman, Bushra Malik, and Muhammad Ali all from the private sector, the CEO Pakistan Steel Mills, and Zahid ur Rehman Mughal, the company secretary PIDC.

After his election as chairman of the PIDC board, Ghulam Sarwar Khan said that PIDC was established in 1952 with the primary aim of establishment of industries in such fields where the private sector was shy to invest and where large amount of capital outlay with long gestation period was required. He said another objective was to set up industries in under-developed areas of the country to creating employment opportunities and remove regional disparities. “The operational strategy was to set up projects on a continuous basis and transfer them to the private sector after successful operation to promote the development of the private sector. He noted that with this mandate PIDC established different industrial units in the major sectors of economy such as fertilizers, cement, automobile, chemicals and pharmaceuticals, cotton, textile and ginning and sugar all over Pakistan.

Ghulam Sarwar Khan explained that the role of PIDC was redefined in 2004 to facilitate the pace of industrialization in the country and in line with government’s initiative for strategic development and competitiveness and also develop non-traditional sectors to contribute effectively towards the accelerated growth in exports from Pakistan. He pointed out that the PIDC board of directors was also reconstituted with total 15 members, including 10 from private sector, and the Minister of Industries and Production as its chairman.

Ghulam Sarwar Khan said he will play his role to foster a spirit of enterprise, facilitate entrepreneurs and promote development of internationally competitive industry and make PIDC a primary vehicle for facilitating industrialization by creating enabling environments for different segments of industries. He pledged to promote the establishment of industries in remote areas of Pakistan to create employment opportunities and upgrade the standard of living.