Balochistan’s uplift depends on public-private tie-up

KARACHI:

The government of Balochistan is working on a proven, progressive and world-class mechanism of public-private partnership that has been adopted by many countries and yielded excellent socio-economic results all over the world, said Strategic Planning and Reforms Cell (SPRC) Director Rafiullah Kakar.

The director of government of Balochistan’s reforms cell, along with a team of officers, visited the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) on Friday and delivered a detailed presentation to chamber officials and prominent business leaders.

Kakar said that the government of Balochistan had reached a consensus that the way forward for inclusive, egalitarian, rapid and sustainable economic and commercial development of the province was only through the public-private partnership.

Speaking on the occasion, former FPCCI vice president MA Jabbar acknowledged that public-private partnership programmes could play a vital role in the development of economic, social and commercial infrastructure of the province.

He noted that such schemes could also go a long way in educating and empowering the masses by creating enormous employment opportunities on a sustainable basis.

“Ingenuity and local ownership will make the progress sustainable and uplift the province socially,” he added.

He called for the inclusion of FPCCI’s representatives in the SPRC board to expedite the progress on projects. He said that it could be done by relaying concerns of investors and entrepreneurs in a timely and effective manner and the apex body would represent the trade, industry and services sectors.

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Former FPCCI vice president Sultan Rehman was optimistic that the business community would be able to come up with proposals which could be implemented effectively in the short term (within one to three years).

Haji Jamaluddin, a prominent businessman from Balochistan, urged the provincial government to provide land for dry ports in the province. He particularly demanded the allocation in border areas and markets, which would help enhance trade with regional countries.

“The required infrastructure, utilities and security should also be provided to make the dry ports successful and fully operational, and public-private partnership can play an important role in this regard,” he said.

Haji Muhammad Yaqoob, another prominent business leader from the small and medium enterprise (SME) sector, called for prioritising the segment in public-private partnership projects because small businesses needed special support.

He cited that SMEs were the true engines of economic growth and employment generation.

He proposed that “the presentation and policy document of SPRC should be translated and printed in Urdu, and circulated to all chambers and associations to attract their participation in projects under the public-private partnership mode”.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 29^th, 2022.

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