KARACHI, Dec 3: Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad Khan said that the policies of President Pervez Musharraf had steered Pakistan on the path of economic and industrial progress.

Karachi, in particular, has made a tremendous progress as compared to yester-years, he added. Dr Ibad was talking to the participants of Junior Level Diplomatic course from various countries at the Governor’s House on Sunday.

As a result of these policies, he said, Pakistan would soon earn a significant role in the economic zone.

He said it was due to the policies of the present government that foreign investment was pouring in and the UAE’s cooperation for the uplift of Pakistan’s coastal belt was a clear manifestation of the same.

In the past, the governor pointed out, the coastal areas were ignored, but now the present government was taking keen interest in the development of these neglected areas and besides China, local investors had also come forward and at present development project worth millions were in hand.

Dr Ibad told the visitors that Karachi had five industrial estates.

With the improvement in law and order situation, industrialists are now making continuous demands for provision of land for industrial expansion and setting up of new industries, he informed.

Dr Ibad said that Pakistan was a major consumer market where number of cellphone users had reached millions, with Karachi having half of the total number of them.

Referring to the local government system, he said it was a practical concept of decentralisation aimed at providing facilities to people at the grass-roots level.

He said within few years of implementation of this system, a visible change had occurred in all walks of life.—APP