LAHORE, Sept 26: Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi said here on Friday that the government was activating all chambers of commerce and industry in the province to include their expertise in official economic planning.

It was also trying to ensure public-private partnership in the province, he said while talking to a delegation of the Asian Development Bank, which was headed by the bank’s Private Sector Operation Department director-general Robert Bestani.

The chief minister said the government was engaging the private sector for constructing housing colonies. Under this scheme private parties would be given bank loans for developing the housing sector. The registration and other related fees had also been reduced, he said.

He said an autonomous body had been set up to create infrastructure for the existing and new industrial estates. The directors of the body were from the private sector, he said.

The chief minister said the progress of the private sector would help overcome unemployment and accelerate investment, and the government realized this factor.