Pakistan Must Exploit Its Own Resources To Get Rid Of IMF: State Minister

FAISALABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 31st Jul, 2023 ) :State Minister for Industries and Production Tasneem Ahmed Qureshi said on Monday that Pakistan must exploit it own natural resources to get rid of International Monetary Fund (IMF) and to provide maximum relief to its masses.

Addressing the business community at Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (FCCI), he said that ill-conceived policies of the previous government had fomented problems not only for the country but also for the people belonging to every segment of society.

He said that political uncertainty remained rife as the previous government could not steer the country out of crises during its three and a half years tenure.

He said that Pakistan People's Party (PPP) was fully cognizant of providing relief to the people as well as industrialists and exporters.

He said that their ultimate objective was to facilitate the people to earn money and then to tax them to generate revenue, whereas, the other governments prefer to tax the people without facilitating them to earn.

He said that increase in electricity tariff had badly hit the masses especially the white-collar class. He said that North Waziristan was rich in uranium and other precious metals, and "we must explore it to meet our financial needs and make Pakistan self-reliant instead of depending on the IMF". "We must depend upon our own resources instead of begging for foreign loans", he added.

He cited the example of Thar Coal mine and said that similarly we must exploit other mineral resources to generate funds for the national development.

Responding to a question, he dispelled the impression that elite class was enjoying from the loans while the masses were being crushed under the price spiral.

He said that he had twice rejected to proceed abroad to attend meetings, whereas Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto was spending from his own pocket for the foreign tours to build soft image of Pakistan among the world community.

He also condemned the suicide bombing in Bajaur and said that Pakistan was going to embrace good time and the people would also enjoy its benefits.

Responding to yet another question, he said that a pleasant change was waiting for the people of Pakistan as Bilawal Bhutto would be new prime minister and the country would make progress at leaps and bounds.

Earlier, FCCI Senior Vice President Dr Sajjad Arshad in his welcome address briefed the state minister about the importance of Faisalabad and FCCI.

He said the city was contributing 60 percent towards the textile exports while the textile sector was also providing job opportunities to the 40 per cent employ workforce.

He appreciated the efforts of incumbent government to save the country from the bankruptcy but said that the problems were still hunting the business community and we must focus on exports, foreign remittances and foreign direct investment to achieve self-sufficiency.

He said that 50 percent industry was closed despite the fact that Pakistan was blessed with unlimited natural resources.

He termed ill-consistency and lack of uniformity in policies as major problem which discourages the foreign investors to invest in Pakistan.

He said that industrial closure had fomented unemployment and the government must take measures to facilitate the industrial sector.

He said the share of industrial sector in GDP was 18 percent while contribution in text is 57 percent. On the other hand, the share of agriculture sector was 22 percent in GDP while its role in tax was only one percent.

Later, Malik Ameen, Muhammad Fazil, Shafiq Shah, Aftab Ahmad Butt, Sohail Butt, Hajji Muhammad Abid, Ayub Aslam Manj, Rana Naeem and Malik Manzoor participated in the question-answer session while SVP Dr Sajjad Arshad along with Vice PresidentHajji Muhammad Aslam Bhalli presented FCCI shield to State Minister Tasneem Qureshi.

Later, "Fateh" was also offered for the martyrs of Bajaur incident.