Govt working on G-B’s economic development

Planning Commission official says region can play important role in country’s economy

ISLAMABAD:

The government is fully committed to achieving political stability as well as socio-economic development and a stable and prosperous Gilgit-Baltistan can play an important role in the country’s economy, said Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Mohammad Jehanzeb Khan.

Speaking at a seminar titled “Socio-economic Development of Gilgit-Baltistan,” on Monday, Khan said this year the development budget for the region was increased four times to Rs10 billion, which showed the commitment of federal government to development of the region.

He added that offices of federal agencies would also be established soon so that people living in the region did not have to visit Islamabad frequently. Talking about energy issues, Khan said the federal government, in collaboration with the Gilgit-Baltistan administration, was planning to make many important interventions including the installation of a regional grid to reduce losses.

He elaborated that the partnership would target the transmission of surplus power to other load centres and would ultimately provide a foundation for interconnecting Gilgit-Baltistan with the national grid. He added that the mineral sector would be developed with the help of research and development activities, regulatory framework, resource mapping and deployment of modern technologies. Talking about tourism, Khan said the government was planning to develop it as an industry.

“Several interventions have been identified to harness the potential such as infrastructure development, legal and regulatory framework, private sector facilitation, comfort of tourists and needs of local community, marketing strategy and skills development,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 6^th, 2020.

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