Addressing a press conference here on Monday Ahsan Iqbal expressed the confidence that Pakistan will be amongst the top 20 leading economies of the world by 2030 and the government is making all-out efforts to achieve the milestone. The minister said energy shortage has reasonably been overcome and 10,000 megawatt of additional electricity will be added to the national grid by May next year. He said availability of additional electricity will certainly give an impetus to Pakistan's economy and industrialisation in the country. Iqbal said projects in energy, infrastructure and port development would provide a base to industrialization in the country.
Iqbal said that growth rate is likely to remain 5.2 to 5.5 per cent and for the first time in last ten years, it will achieve the threshold of five per cent growth rate. He said the government is also striving hard to turn low value addition products to high value addition. He hoped that better cotton crop and other agriculture produce are expected this year, which will certainly contribute in improvement of the rural economy.
The minister said that the government was providing all facilities to farming sector with clear objectives to maximise agricultural output and increase the country's exports to reduce widening trade deficit. He said that a thriving agricultural sector could enhance Pakistani exports and can help the country become a leading export oriented economy in next five years. He said that decline in country's export during ongoing financial year is a result of decline in cotton production as well as reduced commodity prices in international market.
The minister directed to undertake a strategic review of agriculture sector to identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. He said international financial institutions are recognising Pakistan's economic turnaround due to prudent policies of the government.
He stressed that Pakistan must leverage the comparative advantage it holds in the agricultural sector to capture the major share of global agricultural demand. Iqbal stressed to adopt the best global practices around the world to uplift the productivity of the agriculture sector of Pakistan. He said that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) will bring an industrial revolution in Pakistan and turn the country into a trade hub. He said that opponents of the CPEC first tried to divide Pakistanis on creating provincial differences but country's political leadership foiled their all such attempts and later they tried to divide the provinces on the basis of share of industrial zones which was also foiled.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2017