QUETTA: Balochistan Chief Minister Dr Malik Baloch has said that the government will give special incentives to local investors for setting up industries in different areas of the province so that the issue of unemployment could be checked.

Speaking to a delegation of the Balochistan Chambers of Small Traders and Industries here on Tuesday, the chief minister said that the government was striving hard to promote industrialisation to provide jobs to skilled and non-skilled people.

The delegation, headed by BCSTI chairman Jumma Khan Nurzai and Vice Chairman Malik Nadeem, briefed the chief minister about problems being faced by small traders and industrialists in the province and said that the newly-formed trade organisation would help the government promote industrial sector in the province.

Dr Baloch said that provincial government would provide especial incentives to people investing in the province.

Malik says his govt is working to promote industrialisation, create jobs

“Setting up industries in Balochistan will not only create jobs for the people but will also make the province self-sufficient in producing several commodities of its own that we need to bring from other provinces,” he said.

The chief minister said that at present “we have become a consumer society and the province had to purchase even milk, eggs, chickens and other commodities from other provinces and this situation is causing a negative impact on the economy of the province”.

Because of lack of packaging industries in the province, farmers do not get the desired price of their fruit, he regretted.

He said that through making investment in the mineral and mining sector better opportunities for employment could be created.

He urged representatives of small traders and industries to help the provincial government promote industrial sector in the province.

Dr Baloch told the delegation that representatives of the Chambers of Commerce of Quetta, Lasbela and Gwadar had been given representation in the Balochistan Investment Board.

On the occasion, the delegation lauded efforts of the provincial government for improving the law and order situation and encouraging investors and industrialists, adding that maintaining peace was essential for attracting investors to the province.

Published in Dawn, September 17th, 2014