He said that transportation had always been a major factor in the economic development of regions. De said that a well-developed and integrated infrastructure network was an essential pre-condition of higher economic growth on sustainable basis.
Regions with adequate means of communication and transportation had grown economically and those lacking in those vital fields had historically lagged behind, he said.
He further said that mobility was one of the basic fundamentals of defence strategy. It was through varying modes of mobility that human beings had flourished and excelled.
Civilizations having superior means of mobility were able to conquer and the one having inferior mobility (physical and mental) were vanquished, he said. Major General Farrukh Javed said the current prosperity and domination of the United States of America was also because of immense investment opportunities and efforts they made in the communication infrastructure during the 19th and the early 20th century, he added.
He further said despite entry into space age and missile era, a good road communication network played very important role in national defence. 'Both in normal circumstances and in emergency, quality of roads and bridges network make mobilisation and strategic movement of troops, equipment and ammunition swift and thrift, and resultantly operational liberty of action.
The linear nature of Pakistan's geography and the virtual bisection of the country by River Indus make this factor even more significant in our case', he pointed out.
It could, therefore, be concluded that they need to have as many bridges on River Indus as possible so that the use of Indus Highway (N-55) which ran on the west of that river and the National Highway (N-5) which ran on the east of that river optimised both as independent and mutually supporting arteries, he stated.
Farrukh Javed further said while planning and constructing roads, economic and strategic needs and returns were not the only compulsions. Roads were needed for far flung neglected areas for inter provincial and inter regional harmony and for national integration.
The upcoming Lowari Tunnel, he said, to be constructed for providing an all weather link between Chitral Valley and the rest of the country was one such example, he added.
The Government of Pakistan is financing this project despite the fact that in near future the tunnel may not be able to meet even the running/operational expenses what to say of the construction cost, he added.
The LCCI President Mian Misbahur Rehman in his address said Pakistan needed to give special attention to the improvement of infrastructure if it wanted to keep pace with the world economic growth in the changed global scenario.
He stated the access roads to small towns and cities should be given priority as the foreign investors, especially the foreign companies, were expected to expand their operations to those areas.
He urged the National Highway Authority Chairman to review the law binding industrial units to construct prayer rooms/rest rooms/bathrooms within their premises. While lauding the efforts taken by National Highway Authority in improving the state of highways in general and motorways in particular, he said the business community appreciated the continued up-gradation of the road networks in the country.
The new face of GT Road was one such example and similar attention should also be given to other inter-city roads linking various major commercial centres of the provinces and the country. He said the business community understood the law was designed to make room for future expansion of the roads.