ISLAMABAD, Dec 23: Two agreements were signed between the National Highway Authority (NHA) and the Frontier Works Organization (FWO) on Sunday, NHA chairman Maj-Gen Farrukh Javed said.

The first agreement pertained to the construction of the 248km long Lyari-Ormara section of the coastal highway while the other was about the management of the Karachi-Lahore section of Grand Trunk Road and the Hasanabdal-Khunjerab section of Karakuram Highway.

Mr Javed and FWO deputy director Brig Masood Salam signed the agreements.

According to the agreement, the Lyari-Ormara highway would be completed within a year at a cost of Rs4 billion.

The NHA chairman said the present government had adopted the policy of awarding mega projects to Pakistani construction firms in order to save money. This policy would also give a boost to the local construction industry, he observed.