ISLAMABAD, Nov 7: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has said that the country’s economy is growing at annual rate of six to eight per cent and the government is committed to building dams, roads, ports and airports to facilitate the process of economic development.
The prime minister was talking to Pakistan Infrastructure Fund Chairman Marcus Fedder who called on him at Prime Minister House on Tuesday.
The prime minister said that the infrastructure development had to move in tandem with the growing economy and the government was building quality infrastructure to improve productivity, efficiency and competitiveness.
Providing electricity and natural gas to the people to transfer the benefits of high economic growth at the grass roots level was another key priority of the government, he added.
He said that the logistics chain throughout the country was being improved to ensure ease of doing business and reduce travel time and cost of transportation of goods and services.
Mr Aziz said the government encouraged the setting up of Pakistan Infrastructure Fund so as to allow investment in the country.
Mr Fedder told the prime minister that with its headquarters in Dubai the Fund would be launched with $500 million having an international investor base.
He said that the Fund would be executed through public-private partnership.
Adviser to the prime minister on finance Dr Salman Shah and senior government officials also attended the meeting.
Talking to World Islamic Economic Forum (WIEF) Chairman Tun Musa Hitam who called on him on Tuesday, the prime minister said that Muslim countries which were facing similar challenges needed to adopt a common strategy to tackle them.
He further said that the WIEF had emerged as a platform for networking among business communities of the Muslim countries and it would also strengthen economic ties between the Muslim and non-Muslim countries.
Underlining the richness and diversity of Muslim world in human capital as well as physical resources, the prime minister emphasised the need for improved governance and reforms within individual Muslim countries and enhanced economic cooperation among them for the economic renaissance of the Ummah.
“Economic cooperation based on commonality of interest complementing each other will lead to economic revival of the Muslim world,” the premier said. The WIEF has received an overwhelming response which augers well for the economic development of the Muslim countries, he added.
Tun Musa Hitam said the feedback of the WIFE was excellent and it was shaping up nicely as a platform of economic cooperation and it was hoped that it would gradually emerge as the most important forum of the Muslim world.