ISLAMABAD Sept 16: Prime minister Shaukat Aziz on Thursday inaugurated 37-kilometre-long Burhan section of the Islamabad-Peshawar Motorway (M-I) that was completed at a cost of Rs1.77 billion.

Addressing a select gathering at the outskirts of Islamabad the prime minister said that the renewal of the contract awarded to Pakistani contractors had cut its cost by Rs10 billion to Rs26 billion from the original estimated cost of Rs36 billion.

While the prime minister used a helicopter to reach the venue, other participants had to endure an extremely tight security on the highway as well as the entry point to the function.

Some federal ministers, ministers of state, officials of the NHA and the Motorway Police and representatives of the local government attended the function. Shaukat Aziz said that he was happy to inaugurate a section of the motorway which passed through his constituency from where he had contested and won NA by-elections on Aug 18.

Mr Aziz said that road network would engender better inter-provincial harmony. He expressed the hope that with the streamlining of communication links with the NWFP, Pakistan's trade with the Central Asian Republics would increase, adding that it would also help increase the quantum of the country's trade with Afghanistan to $1 billion this year.

The Indus Highway, he said, was near completion, adding that the government of Japan had offered financial assistance for the timely completion of the remaining portion of the highway.

He regretted a 10-year delay in the completion of the M-I project to 2007 instead of 1997 because of wrong decision at the time of award of the first contract to a foreign firm.

He said: "Let us make Pakistan a better place for our next generations where the woes of poverty are minimised and our youths could be proud of being Pakistanis". The premier said that one of the government's targets was imparting training to skilled workers, adding that the government would provide more incentives to the private sector to help generate more job opportunities.

Earlier, the minister of state for communication and chairman NHA presented welcome address. He said that the remaining portion of M-I beyond Burhan to Peshawar via Swabi, Rashakai, Charssada would be opened in November next year.