FROM MENAHILL RASHID
FAISALABAD: Three-day Pakistan Economic Conference (PEC) will be a game changer for the expeditious, diversified, and innovative industrialization of Faisalabad in addition to the promotion of social, commercial and business activities, said Mian Javed Iqbal, a leader of the National Group (Corporate). He appreciated the aims, objectives and design of the proposed PEC and said that it is probably the first serious and well thought out effort to hold a conference in which policy making issues would also be discussed at the highest level. He said that generally cosmetic conferences are arranged but most of these failed to yield the required results. He quoted his participation in an energy conference in Karachi a few decades ago and said that it was his last participation as it was just a waste of time. About the PEC, he said that it has been premeditated with a focus on covering almost all segments of the economy identifying new and emerging investment opportunities that have a major attraction for the investors, young start-ups and other serious stakeholders. He said that the third generation of local industrialists is ready to enter into practical life. “They must undertake new, innovative and non-traditional projects instead of depending on the textile”, he said and added that this conference would help them to enter into nontraditional fields of businesses with a renewed vigor, innovative ideas and out of box solutions. He termed industrial estates being established by FIEDMC in Faisalabad as a boon for this region. He disclosed that 90% plots in the industrial estate have been sold out to the investors from other areas who are establishing diversified industries that would play a key role in import substitution. He said that the emerging industrial landscape would project Faisalabad as a haven for investors in non-traditional and hi-tech industries. He particularly appreciated the health cards scheme inaugurated by Prime Minister Imran Khan just a week ago in Faisalabad and said that it has almost doubled the patient’s pressure in private hospitals. Earlier these healthcare units were working only 65% occupancy. He said that now people are selecting hospitals on the basis of services and facilities available in the hospital. He said that it also provides a unique opportunity to the investors in the health care sector as they could provide MIR, CT SCAN and other costly machines to the private hospitals and earn a reasonable profit for their investment. He hoped that this decision would make health as one of the biggest sectors of the national economy in the near future. He also quoted the Indian occupied Kashmir which is cultivating and exporting saffron to the entire world. He said that the climate in independent Kashmir is the same and investors could also cultivate this precious crop for the benefit of the local communities in addition to earning precious foreign exchange by exporting the same. He said that women are 52% of our population, hence instead of organizing separate meetings for them, females must be made part of the main conferences. He said that generally among top 90 students, 1-30 positions are won by the girls but our society prefers to exclude them from the mainstream of the national economy. He also appreciated the female talent in Baluchistan and other neglected far-flung areas and stressed the need to involve them in productive national activities. He appreciated the efforts of Mr. Atif Munir Sheikh, President Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (FCCI) and said that he is a visionary leader who has designed it in line with the future needs. He hoped that this conference would prove a total success and organizers would get at least 70% participants for the next year’s event from amongst the participants of this conference. He said that this conference should be financially sustainable and organizers should discourage free entry into it.
