South Punjab will see visible improvements in development and economic activity since every step is being taken by the government to accelerate industrialization of the region.

The statement was made by the Secretary of Industries, Commerce, Investment & Skills Development Punjab, Dr Ahmad Javed Qazi, while speaking at the gathering of MCCI office holders.

He said that a strategy was being crafted for the development of the region through industrialization and economic activity. For this purpose, the biggest chamber of South Punjab MCCI was being consulted and soon a comprehensive plan will be unveiled. “The best way to develop the region is to work on small and medium enterprises to support small businessmen and industrialists,” he said.

“All the industrial estates will be developed near communication networks like roads and hubs where raw materials can be easily accessed. Our job is to make sure that the industrialist is being helped in all manners,” he said, adding that the industrial estates are being built in Muzaffargarh, DG Khan, Khanewal, Mian Channu and other areas.

Speaking of vocational and skilled labor, he said, it is very important that people of the region are trained to improve their productivity. It can only be done by opening more vocational training centers and enabing people to enter industries where they can apply those skills. “There are more than 400 vocational training centers in the province and millions of rupees were spent every year keeping them operational,” he said.

He highlighted the role of e-commerce platforms in providing employment opportunities to the youth and appreciated the role of Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB) in helping spread the use of information technology systems. He told the industrialists to make full use of Punjab Rozgar scheme for swift loaning on easy conditions.

As for the reduction in cotton crop’s cultivated area, he said that a larger cotton debate session would be conducted to find out the factors causing reduction in cotton crop areas. He called on the MCCI to play its due role in preventing smog and to constitute committees including environmental committee and dengue prevention committee to increase public health.

Earlier, MCCI president Mian Rashid Iqbal presented suggestions for improvement of academia and industry linkage. The secretary of Industries assured his full cooperation to resolve the issues faced by the industrialists.

Credit : Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk