Federal Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry Thursday said the upcoming visit of Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman will prove to be a game changer besides opening vistas of opportunities for the country.
Addressing a news conference here after the cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan, Fawad said the upcoming visit of the Saudi crown prince will be a milestone in numerous achievements made by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government at the foreign policy front during the past six months. He said Pakistan has once again become a key player in the Middle East politics and its re-conciliatory role has been recognized. “Pakistan is making sincere efforts to bridge differences between various brotherly Muslim countries,” he said. The negotiations with Taliban will also prove a game changing event in Islamabad and will help bring stability and development in the region as well as Pakistan.
Fawad said a large number of Saudi investors are also accompanying the crown prince. Around eight memorandums of understanding (MoUs) will be inked with Saudi Arabia during the visit, he said, and added that Saudi Arabia was set to invest $8 billion in Gwadar.
Fawad said a large entourage of Saudi investors was accompanying the crown prince. The Board of Investment has been assigned to organize workshops for briefing Saudi investors on investment opportunities in Pakistan, he said. The easing of visas facilities for Saudi investors will prove helpful in attracting tourists from Saudi Arabia, he added.
Giving details of the cabinet decisions, Fawad said it has been decided to provide gas and power to the country’s industrial zones. He said the cabinet has given approval to appointment of Zafar Usmani as new chairman of Pakistan State Oil, along with reconstitution of its board. He said an overseas Pakistani, Adnan Ghani, has been appointed as head of Zarai Tarqqiati Bank Limited. His appointment gives a message that the PTI government appreciates and recognizes the positive contributions of overseas Pakistanis in the country’s economy, he added.
The minister said that Naseer Khan Kashani has been appointed chairman of Gwadar Port. He said Essential Services Act has been implemented in the State Life Insurance Corporation of Pakistan.
He said the cabinet was also briefed on the process of transferring the management of Sheikh Zayed Hospital and other hospitals to the Centre. He said draft proposal for merger of Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority and National Disaster Management Authority was approved by the cabinet. The cabinet also granted approval to Board of Pakistan Institute of Management Sciences, eh added.
Fawad said a committee has been set up for payment of power royalty to Azad Kashmir. He said National Anti-Narcotics Policy was also laid before the cabinet. To a question, he said the government has ordered external audit of gas companies and the preliminary reports are not encouraging.
Fawad said the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has apparently no political challenge but its fight against the system will continue. He said the PTI has successfully challenged the two-party system and it will change the governance system as well.
Responding to a question, Fawad said one accused (Zardari) of committing billions of rupees corruption is visiting Sindh while the other culprit (Shehbaz) is enjoying protocol and roaming in luxury vehicles. “But they will have to be brought to justice,” he said.
To a question, the minister said no luxury vehicles have been hired by the government and the news on social media in this regard was incorrect. The visit of Saudi crown prince will not pose a burden on the national exchequer as expenditures of the entourage visits are being borne by Saudi Arabia itself, he added.
Published in Daily Times, February 15th 2019.
