LAHORE, March 30: Punjab on Saturday signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the federal government for the construction of a world-class Expo Centre at Jauhar Town here.

The provincial and federal governments will set up a private company to construct and operate the centre for which Punjab has given 400 kanals of prime land. The company will be jointly owned by the two governments.

The construction of the centre is likely to cost between Rs180 million and Rs200 million to be spent by the federal government from its Export Development Fund. The construction of two display halls of 50,000 square feet each is expected to start in May and complete in 18 months.

The Punjab government plans to establish a modern trade and business centre on another 1,000 kanals of land adjacent to the centre. Plots would be sold to the private sector after completion of the design of the trade and business centre. The trade and business centre would have shopping malls, banks and other facilities.

The signing ceremony was attended by Governor Khalid Maqbool and Commerce Minister Abdul Razzak Dawood who represented the federal government.

Speaking on the occasion, the governor said Punjab’s share in the country’s foreign exchange earnings stood at 62 per cent. He said the reconstruction of Afghanistan and the prospects of trade with the Central Asian Republics had also made it necessary for the province to have an expo centre to promote its exports and help improve the country’s economy. He said the government would also provide basic infrastructural facilities for the success of the proposed expo centre.

He urged the private sector to come forward and help the government put the economy back on the road of growth, adding the government was trying its best to remove bureaucratic and other irritants in the way of private investment in development projects.

The governor said the provincial government had undertaken a Rs800 million programme to build eight roads in the city. He said the government would try to bring in foreign investment for the proposed trade and business centre.

Mr Dawood termed the centre as an example of partnership between the federal and provincial governments. He said the federal government would bear the cost of the centre’s construction.