Accolades: Malik Raiz honoured for services in real estate

Says the current system and its managers are a hurdle in the way to prosperity.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s real estate tycoon Malik Riaz Hussain – who is the founder of Asia’s largest real estate development network, Bahria Town – received on Monday the Leadership Performance Award 2015 at the tenth CEO Summit Asia.

The CEO Club’s President Aijaz Nisar offered him the award to acknowledge Malik Raiz’s ‘untiring efforts, valuable services and commitment’ to Pakistan’s economic progress.

Chief executives of Pakistan’s leading companies, business leaders, investors, policymakers and economic experts attended the ceremony. A number of federal ministers were also present.

Speaking at the occasion, the Bahria Town’s chief said the present system and its managers were the main hurdle in the way to prosperity. He said the country could not be reformed until the people who ran the system were reformed.

“The country has a lot of politicians but it lacks a leader who could put it on the right track,” he said, adding: “Only if we could start building dams and water reservoirs, we could protect people from dying in floods.”

Enumerating the issues faced by common people, he said the people did not have access to clean drinking water. “Eighty million children are out of schools while 40 million children do not get proper meals,” he added.

He said Rs1,000 and Rs5,000 banknotes were ‘corruption bonds’ and should be abolished. He also asked Finance Minister Ishaq Dar to reduce taxes by 50 per cent.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 27^th, 2015.