HYDERABAD, Dec 22 It is important to establish agro-based industries with reduced taxes for ensuring food security in the country, said President Hyderabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Shafiq Ahmed Qureshi in a statement.

He said that the agro-based industries would not only increase the production of value-added goods but also benefit growers and people of rural areas by providing them with employment opportunities.

He expressed satisfaction over earmarking of Rs150 million for the development of extended industrial zone in Hyderabad. On completion of development work, entrepreneurs would be allotted industrial plots to accelerate the pace of development, he said. He recommended introduction of one-window facility for facilitating investors.

PIFPD The Pakistan-India People's Forum for Peace and Democracy, Sindh chapter, has hailed the decision of the Indian government of sending a delegation comprising Muslim parliamentarians to Pakistan.

In a statement, the president of the Sindh chapter of the forum, Syed Abbas Ali Jafri, and general secretary Jalal Ahmed Khan Leghari said that the visit of the Indian delegation will go a long way in reducing tension between the two countries which cropped up following the Mumbai carnage.

This visit will provide an opportunity to the two countries to understand each other's point of view, they said.

They pointed out that those countries, which exported arms and ammunition and war technology, would not like peace in the region and therefore the Indian and Pakistani leaders should read the game of arms manufacturing and exporting countries.