LAHORE: Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif says Punjab can benefit from Sweden’s hi-tech technology to generate power from waste.

He said thousands of tones of waste generated in Lahore and other cities could be used to produce power. He said the Lahore Waste Management Company was doing well but it needed to do more. He said garbage could not be dumped on landfill sights all the time as the land was getting expensive and transportation cost going up.

Mr Sharif said this at a seminar on ‘Smart cities by Sweden’ presenting sustainable urban solutions by Swedish companies for Pakistan by the embassy of Sweden to Pakistan, the Swedish Trade and Invest Council and the Swedish Business Council in Pakistan at a local hotel on Thursday.

Stating that Punjab had suffered a lot in the industry and agriculture sector due to the lack of energy, he said Punjab had become the first province in Pakistan to introduce solar power generation on commercial lines at a very low tariff rates. He said the government had also launched a first large power project in Bhikki while ensuring cheap power and clean environment for consumers. He said more power projects would come up soon.

He said Sweden had high technology despite being a small country, thanking the Swedish ambassador to Pakistan for organising the seminar and introducing the team of ‘Smart cities’. He said economic cooperation between the two countries was already in place and a Punjab government’s delegation had recently visited Sweden to promote cooperation with regard to improvement in traffic system and checking accidents. He asserted that working relationship must increase between the Punjab government and Sweden besides business to business contacts to expedite business and trade activities.

Mr Sharif said the execution of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor had opened up doors to foreign investment in the country and a large number of friendly courtiers were taking interest in it while several friendly countries were joining the projects.

Swedish Ambassador Ingrid Johansson said the ‘Smart cities’ was a one response to chief minister’s call for strengthening economic relations between Punjab and Sweden.

Since Labour is scarce and costly in Sweden, she said, smart and sustainable solutions were key to maintaining country’s way of life and high standard of living. She said many of those solutions had proven successful and were in high demand worldwide and contributing to the continued success of Swedish industry worldwide.

Honorary Consul General Syed Babar Ali said that he had visited Sweden in 1954 and established a joint venture in 1956. He said Pakistan and Sweden relationship was moving forward since then.

Business Sweden – The Swedish Trade and Invest Council project manager Lisa Tullus also spoke.

Companies’ representatives gave presentations about their products aimed at developing smart cities.

Published in Dawn, May 5th, 2017