LAHORE, Feb 25: Many Sindh industrialists are willing to establish factories in the Punjab.

According to official sources, this was revealed by Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Shaukat Iqbal during a meeting with Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi here on Tuesday.

Mr Iqbal was the part of a delegation of the Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) which called on the chief minister under the leadership of its president Riaz Tata. It also included Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Yawar Irfan Khan.

Sources said Mr Iqbal sought the patronage of the chief minister, himself an industrialist, in setting up industry in the Punjab by the Sindh investors.

“They want to explore business opportunities in the Punjab and if welcomed would provide job opportunities to the people here,” he reportedly informed the chief minister.

Earlier, Pervaiz Elahi said the Punjab government was constituting a special cell to receive proposals by the industrialists and business community, and incorporate them into the new trade policies.

He said the government wanted to encourage the private sector. The new policies would eliminate unnecessary intervention of government departments into the trade and commerce related affairs of the businessmen.

The chief minister said special attention was being paid towards the improvement in the law and order situation in the Punjab as it was necessary for the promotion of trade and business activities in the country.

He said the private sector in Pakistan had a lot of potential which would be utilized in the right direction by the government.

Pervaiz Elahi said industrial zones were being established in different areas of the province where all facilities, including electricity, gas, telephone, water and banking, would be provided. Such zones would also be exempted from a number of taxes, he said.