ISLAMABAD: Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Ahsan Iqbal on Tuesday said that there was a potential of over $100 billion in Pakistan’s blue economy.
He said to tap the potential, the government is launching new projects for the development of coastal areas.
Addressing the opening session of the international symposium on ” Geo Economic & Maritime dimensions of CPEC, the minister highlighted that after taking charge, the alliance government has expedited work on the projects under China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
He said during the four years of the previous government, no work was done on the projects in the port city of Gwadar.
He said that under the leadership of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, the mega project of CPEC was launched by the PML-N government that would prove to be a game changer for Pakistan.
The minister said every Pakistani citizen would have to work really hard to play role in the country’s development and to increase the per capita income in the country.
He pointed out that during the tenure of PML-N government, investment was made on a large scale. It added 11,000 MW of electricity to the national grid besides constructing a network of highways and motorways across the country.
He said in 2018, more people were willing to invest in Pakistan, however, Imran Khan’s wrong policies wasted away all the hard work done during the PML-N government.
Ahsan Iqbal said the government is also focusing on launching new development projects in collaboration with the private sector to minimize the burden on the government exchequer.
On the other hand, Despite proclamations of ‘all is well’ from the country’s financial managers, anyone who has recently tried to buy foreign currency will tell you that things are dire.
Dollars have disappeared from the open market, while a crisis in the inter-bank market has led to the stoppage of foreign payments. The country is unable to clear the dues owed to airlines or make payments for imported goods waiting at ports. Opening letters of credit (LCs) has become a challenge and transactions with the country’s foreign missions are also proving problematic.
The ascendant dollar is not a Pakistan-specific problem; according to Atif Ahmed, a currency dealer, the war in Ukraine has contributed to the strengthening of the US dollar. –Agencies
