ISLAMABAD: In an effort to ensure safety and emergency response, National Highways and Motorway is working on a project to launch an air ambulance service and establish modern trauma centres on motorways in collaboration with the Pakistan Air Force (PAF).

Federal Minister for Communication Abdul Aleem Khan revealed this in a meeting with the Vice President of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) Konstantin Limitovskiy, along with Director General Mrs Xiaohong Wang, here on Wednesday.

The minister appreciated the air chief marshal for taking personal interest in the project to ensure the swift launch of the Air Ambulance (helicopter) Service. The federal minister extended an invitation to the AIIB delegation to visit completed National Highway Authority (NHA) projects.

The AIIB delegation expressed strong interest in collaborating with the NHA, describing their visit as pleasant and confirming that they would also be visiting Lahore. During the meeting, Federal Minister Abdul Aleem Khan emphasised that partnership and investment with the AIIB are of paramount importance to Pakistan.

He stated that the government aims to complete many vital transportation and infrastructure projects within the next two years.” The most critical project for Pakistan right now is the Karachi-Hyderabad and Hyderabad-Sukkur Motorway, which will play a pivotal role in the country’s economic development,” said Abdul Aleem Khan.

He assured that Pakistan would utilise all available resources to ensure its timely completion and aimed to complete the project within 2 years. The minister shared that the section of the motorway connecting to the Karachi Port will consist of 8 lanes, while the Hyderabad-Sukkur section will feature six lanes.

Furthermore, the minister announced that the Lahore-Sialkot and Kharian-Rawalpindi motorway projects are also slated for completion within the next two years. This project will reduce the travel distance between Lahore and Islamabad by 100 kilometres, saving an hour of travel time and resulting in billions of rupees in annual fuel savings.

Published in Dawn, May 21st, 2026