Bureau Report
LAHORE: Pakistan is swiftly becoming a preferred destination for foreign investors, in particular Chinese businessmen therefore Pakistan should look into the concept of “Global City” or “Universal Hub” on the pattern of Shanghai. Pak-China Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCJCCI) President S.M Naveed expressed these views in a meeting of the joint chamber here.
He added that Pakistan was entering in international markets and becoming a preferred country for foreign investors so there was a dire need to initialize the concept of establishing “Global City” or “Universal Hub”, which would eventually bring industrial revolution in the country.
S.M. Naveed said the concept had widely been used in the past by various southern countries including China to achieve and set goals for their economic development.
PCJCCI Senior Vice President Daud Ahmed said that the term involved vigorous participation of cities in the economic activities of the country. Under the concept, he explained, the cities and countries were empowered to broaden their manufacturing horizon and manage to market their outputs and earn capital in order to finance industrial infrastructure and services. This process of making cities globalized also prevented brain drain and frustration among the youth for not finding jobs appropriate to their qualifications. A “Universal Hub or City” developed under this ideology encompassed a highly extensive investment environment that led to overall economic and social development, he asserted.
While the PCJCCI Vice President Khalid RafiqueChaudhry said that government should develop integrated industrial estates and industrial parks in a number of regions throughout the country by providing special incentives, infrastructure facilities, security and energy.
He was confident that this idea would promote a bolstered manufacturing sector in specialized areas, which would allow Pakistan to lessen its reliance on imports. He added, “We expect that government will definitely allocate financial and technical resources to build ports, long roads, and railways to increase connectivity in the budget 2021-2022.” The joint chamber’s Secretary General SalahuddinHanif said, the government’s current plan to build “Digital Parks” for promotion of digital marketing and technology based industries would also help execute this idea. He was of the view that local cities played an important role in globalizing the economies.
