President Arif Alvi says Centre to cooperate with Sindh for Karachi’s development

KARACHI: President Arif Alvi has said that the federal government will continue providing utmost cooperation for development of Karachi while considering its importance as being the economic hub of the country.

The president stated this as he met at the Sindh Governor’s House representatives of Karachi’s business community here on Wednesday. Sindh Governor Imran Ismail was also present on the occasion.

The meeting took into consideration the disastrous situation in Karachi after heavy monsoon rain, newly-unveiled Karachi development package, and problems of the traders’ fraternity. Speaking on the occasion, the president said the business community of the city had a key role in the Pakistani economy as the present government had been doing its best to lessen the problems of businessmen. He said the government would ensure its vision of economic progress of Pakistan with support of the business community. He said that provision of modern civic facilities and completion of mega development projects in Karachi was need of the hour. The newly-announced Karachi development package would go a long way in resolving the civic issues of the city and problems caused by the recent heavy monsoon downpour.

The president said that the policy of smart lockdown introduced by Prime Minister Imran Khan had helped much Pakistan’s fight against the coronavirus. He said that the entire world had acknowledged the efforts of Pakistan to prevent the spread of Covid-19 pandemic.

Speaking on the occasion, the governor said the government had full knowledge about the problems of the business community. He said the business activities in the country would get an impetus with an improvement in situation of the city.

The governor said that the government had been taking steps for development of industrial estates of the city. He said the government would make sure that development projects to be undertaken under new Karachi Package were built with complete transparency and quality.

Those who met the president and governor hoped that the government would resolve the issues of the business community on a priority basis. The representatives of the traders’ fraternity said that they had never doubted the sincerity of the PM and they were much hopeful about his efforts for progress of the city. They demanded that the issues of industrial zones of the city regarding their civic infrastructure, water, gas and electric supply should be resolved at the earliest.

Earlier, Sindh Governor Imran Ismail met President Arif Alvi here at the Sindh Governor's House. The meeting took into consideration the situation of the calamity-hit districts of Sindh, rescue and relief work in these areas, development projects in the province, Karachi Transformation Plan of the government and other issues of mutual interest.

The president said on the occasion that the unprecedented rains had harmed much of its infrastructure, economy, trade and social life. He said the present government knew very well the problems of the masses in this regard. He said that the newly-unveiled Karachi Development Package contrary to the past would play an important role for development of the economic capital of the country. He said the new Karachi package was a serious effort to modernise the city’s infrastructure.

He said that Prime Minister Imran Khan had a personal interest in development of Karachi in accordance with the international standards. The Sindh governor said that peoples’ confidence in the efforts of the government had increased after the visit of Imran Khan to Karachi and his announcement of the new Karachi package. Ismail said that earlier he had never seen such serious efforts for development of the city.

He said the present government had the full realization of the capacity and role of Karachi in economic prosperity of the country. He said the new Karachi Package would go a long way in resolving problems of the city.