Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif has said industrialisation was the fastest route to development and promotion of local industry was essential for creating employment opportunities.
She was speaking during a meeting with a special investment facilitation committee led by Prime Minister’s Adviser on Industries and Production Haroon Akhtar, on Monday. Prime Minister’s Coordinator Ehsan Afzal Khan was also present. The CM also offered technical assistance to the federal government for digitalisation to facilitate businesses.
The meeting reviewed the reform agenda for ease of doing business and discussed measures to promote investment and industrial development in Punjab.
CM Maryam Nawaz Sharif said Punjab had revamped skill development under a unified system, while sector-specific training programmes were producing encouraging results.
She expressed confidence in Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s commitment to promoting investment and the efforts of the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC).
The CM said the provincial government was expanding the tax net and setting records in the recovery of outstanding dues without imposing new taxes. Business facilitation measures were being introduced in line with ground realities, she added.
She said cluster mapping across Punjab had been completed and the government planned to establish hubs for cottage industries. The Asaan Karobar Finance Scheme was encouraging young people to establish their own businesses, she added.
The chief minister said the provincial government was also pursuing a policy to promote livestock farming and increase meat exports.
Earlier, Haroon Akhtar appreciated Punjab’s initiatives for promoting business and investment, saying the province had already implemented several measures recommended by the committee for ease of doing business and industrial growth. He said considerable efforts had been made to attract investment and facilitate industrialists, adding that the hard work of Maryam Nawaz Sharif and her team was reflected in every provincial project.
The meeting was briefed that interest-free loans worth Rs70 billion had been provided under the Asaan Karobar Finance Scheme, while 112,000 businesses had received financial assistance under the scheme.
The E-Biz platform had introduced a single-window, one-portal system, providing 437 services from 28 departments. A total of 210,031 applications were being processed through the platform, the briefing stated.
It was further informed that extensive documentation requirements had been reduced to a few essential documents to facilitate businesses. Under the Maryam Ki Dastak initiative, 4.5 million digital services had also been delivered to citizens, the meeting was informed.
Separately, Maryam Nawaz approved the Last-Mile Water Supply Project to provide clean drinking water to additional areas of Rawalpindi, Chakwal and Rajanpur, aiming to improve access to safe water in underserved communities.
The approval was given during a special meeting of the Punjab Saaf Pani Authority chaired by the chief minister in Lahore on Sunday.
The chief minister said provision of clean drinking water was a public right and assured that every citizen would be provided with safe drinking water. She also directed the authorities to prioritise water supply schemes in areas facing severe shortages.
The meeting also reviewed the installation of 5,734 water filtration plants across Punjab and set June 2027 as the deadline for their completion. The relevant assistant commissioners were assigned the responsibility of monitoring the functioning and maintenance of filtration plants.
It was further decided to establish public committees under the supervision of assistant commissioners to oversee filtration plants in local neighbourhoods, while mobile maintenance units would be set up in every tehsil to ensure timely repair and restoration of the facilities. The chief minister said water supply schemes would be extended to other areas after Chakwal, Rajanpur and Rawalpindi, enabling people to access clean drinking water without travelling long distances.
Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif expressed deep grief and sorrow over the loss of precious human lives in a traffic accident near Faisalabad.
The CM extended her heartfelt condolences and sympathies to the bereaved families and prayed for patience and strength for them to bear the irreparable loss. CM Maryam Nawaz Sharif also prayed for the speedy recovery of the injured and directed the commissioner Faisalabad to reach Allied Hospital to oversee the provision of medical treatment to the injured.
Moreover, she expressed deep grief and sorrow over the death of former chief of army staff General (R) Abdul Waheed Kakar. In her message, the CM extended her heartfelt condolences and sympathies to the bereaved family and prayed for strength and patience for them to bear the loss.