Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday stressed the need for automation for improving the ease of doing business and bringing down costs.

"Automation is essential if we want to increase our ease of doing business and bring down costs," he said, adding that there was a lot of resistance to this. Bribery is removed from the equation when automation is introduced, he said, adding that "machines don't take bribes"

The premier was addressing a ceremony in Lahore after performing the ground breaking for the construction of affordable apartment under the Naya Pakistan Housing Programme. According to Radio Pakistan, 35,000 affordable apartments will be built in LDA City under the scheme.

PM Imran also took the opportunity to mention the Lahore Development Authority (LDA) and the recent changes introduced by the management. "The authority has brought about a lot of improvement," he remarked.

The premier began his address by congratulating Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar and the Punjab government on the launch of the scheme.

"There is a lot of work that went into where we are today," he said, highlighting that nothing would have been possible without the passage of foreclosure laws. "With foreclosure laws, banks would not provide financing which is called mortgage financing."

He stated that mortgage financing in Pakistan was 0.2 per cent as compared to more than 80pc in the West. "What this means is that you can't build a home without cash. It's not as though every person has cash, but they are able to purchase homes because banks provide financing. This is what happens in the developed world."

He said that now low-income groups will get an opportunity to build their own homes.

He also commented on the need for change to meet modern challenges. "When you have a system that is plagued by several issues, it takes time to bring about change. The old status quo does not allow change to take place because it takes away from their wealth. So an entire system develops."

The prime minister stated that he has seen the entire system deteriorating in front of his eyes. "You need vision and determination to bring about change. There are so many countries in the world that have transformed themselves. So for Pakistan to meet the challenges of the 21st century, we will need to change ourselves."

The prime minister also touched upon the recent boom in cement sales, stating that it was proof that the "construction sector was moving forward".

During his address, PM Imran elaborated on the two principles for making Pakistan a great nation in the footsteps of the state of Madina; rule of law and social welfare.

"No civilisation has risen without ensuring the rule of law," he said. "No one is above the law and that was the basis upon which one of the greatest civilisations was able to stand upon," he remarked.

"Go to Scandinavia, Germany, England, no one is above the law. There is no priviledged class becuase no one is above the law." He added that a war was being waged in the country to bring down mafias.

The second thing was focusing on the people, by providing them welfare, he said. "The state of Madina took responsibility for the weak segments of society. And we are also trying to do the same."

He said that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had provided health cards to all of its residents, adding that Punjab had taken up the challenge to provide all of its residents with health cards by the end of the year.

The premier concluded his speech by vowing to make Pakistan a welfare state.