GENEVA, July 4: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has said that the government is determined to build Pakistan into a prosperous and developed country and overseas Pakistanis should project its true image as a moderate and enlightened nation making rapid progress in all spheres of life.

“Pakistan is making progress and we are working hard and with all sincerity. Pakistan of today and tomorrow is not the Pakistan of yesterday and we all have to project this reality,” he told the Geneva-based Pakistani community during his visit to Switzerland.

The prime minister said efforts by the overseas Pakistanis for presenting a true image of the country would produce good results and benefit Pakistan and the Ummah.

He was here to address the United Nations Economic and Social Council and co-chair a panel set up by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to prepare recommendations for making the world body an effective and efficient entity.

Prime Minister Aziz said his government was working hard to develop Pakistan into a stable, modern and moderate country that was an anchor of peace and stability in the region.

He said the country’s economy was on the upsurge and it had been growing at a rate of six to eight per cent for the past three years in a row with the per capita income increasing to $847.

Despite external and internal shocks, the major being rising oil prices and the earthquake, the country’s principal macro-economic indicators were positive and stable, he said.

“Debt has been reduced from 64 per cent of the budget to 30 per cent. Our credit rating and foreign exchange reserves have improved. The foreign exchange rate is favourable and exports are rising,” he said.

He said the government had announced a record allocation of Rs415 billion for the Public Sector Development Programme for the current financial year, which, according to him, would usher in a new era of prosperity and create numerous job opportunities. He said that during the current year 800,000 motorcycles would be manufactured, while the number was around 200,000 in 1999.

The prime minister said the government was determined to improving the living standard of the average citizens and the ratio of poverty in the county was declining.—APP