PESHAWAR, April 11: President Gen Pervez Musharraf on Friday said the NWFP that country’s economy was in the take-off position because of the effective financial management during the last three years and with the passage of time it would get boost.

Addressing the members of Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) on the last leg of his two-day visit to Peshawar, Gen. Musharraf said, “the country’s economy was sinking when we took over but sensing the situation my government concentrated on it and by the grace of God Almighty, it is now flourishing.

The president assured that debt servicing would be further lowered to about 30 per cent from present 46 per cent.

The elected government, he said, should now concentrate on two areas of development. One increasing foreign direct investment and number two, the Pakistanis abroad should be motivated to invest in the industry instead of investment in real estate which the Chamber President Ghulam Sarwar Khan Mohmand pointed out in his opening remarks.

Referring to the points raised by Sarwar Khan Mohmand, the President said that the road from Peshawar to Torkham would be constructed like Motorway, and that the contract of the road from Torkham to Jalalabad had been awarded to a Pakistani firm. He expressed the hope that the road would be extended up to Kabul. He said Gwadar to Karachi Coastal Highway is under construction which would be completed shortly. Moreover, he told the industrialists that construction of many other link roads would also be taken in hand.

The present government, he said would encourage export to Afghanistan and said that at present the total volume of export to Afghanistan has touched 250 million dollars during the last three years which used to be five to ten million dollars in the past.

The demand for trade route from Export Processing Zone to Afghanistan, Gen. Musharraf said, would be considered sympathetically. He also assured that revival of Gadoon-Amazai Industrial Estate would be given due attention and all obstructions would be removed.

Earlier, President of Sarhad of Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) Ghulam Sarwar Khan Mohmand presented the problems facing the industrialists of NWFP and suggestion of resolving these problems.—APP