‘Punjab Rozgar scheme from October 1’

LAHORE: Minister for Industries and Trade Mian Aslam Iqbal said that the chief minister will inaugurate the Punjab Rozgar Scheme on October 1.

Addressing as chief guest at the annual meeting of All Pakistan Textile Processing Mills Association, he said that the scheme will help boost business activities and will also be helpful for starting new business.

Soft loan up to one crore rupees will be provided. Punjab government is also providing from 4 to 5 lakh rupees loan for the restoration of cottage industry in various districts of the province. If a ruler has personal interest in any project, this project will fail that is why Quaid-e-Azam Business Park failed during the last tenure and no special economic zone could be set up in the Punjab.

PTI government under the leadership of Usman Buzdar has set up Rahimyar Khan, Bhalwal, Vehari, Faisalabad special economic zones and Quaid-e-Azam Business Park near Sheikhupura at Motorway. Punjab is the sole province where four special economic zones are being setup in private sector, the minister said.

Aslam Iqbal said special economic zone Bahawalpur has been completed and the prime minister will inaugurate it soon. Industrial Park in Shujabad at Lahore-Multan motorway will also be set up. Special economic zone on 20 thousand acres of land will be set up in Chobara at Muzaffargarh-Layya Road. Small industrial parks are also been set up in the province, he added.

The minister said that 23 applications are under process for setting up new cement plants in the province, seven to eight NOCs for establishing cement plants will be issued within next 15 days. New investment of 11 million dollars has been made in Faisalabad, he said.

The minister said he was standing by industrialists and traders and will raise voice for solving their problems at every forum. The meeting will be held with Federal government next month in which all the issues facing industry will be put up in this meeting, he said.

Newly elected Chairman APTPMA Chaudhary Zulfiqar, former Chairman Muhammad Pervaiz Lala, patron-in-chief Zubair Motiwala and other industrialists highlighted the problems faced by the industries. Industrialists while expressing their views said that PTI government under the leadership of Imran Khan has took solid steps to combat corona pandemic and this policy yielded positive results.