PM says his govt remained in firefighting mode for 14 months due to floods, inflation n Lays foundation stone of Islamabad Model Special Economic Zone n Applauds UAE’s support for Pakistan’s economic, financial stability n Inaugurates Online Temporary Mobile Phone Registration system to facilitate overseas Pakistanis n Info minister clarifies PDM to decide final date to dissolve assembly n PM Shehbaz, CM Naqvi discuss raising salaries, pensions of Punjab govt employees.

ISLAMABAD  -  Former president and co-chair­man of Pakistan Peoples Par­ty Asif Ali Zardari called on PM Shehbaz Sharif in Islamabad on Tuesday night and they dis­cussed the date for dissolution of national and provincial as­semblies, future caretaker set up, and finalised the name for caretaker PM. 

Credible sources told The Na­tion that both leaders agreed to convene the meeting of Pakistan democratic movement as soon as possible. PDM would be taken into confidence about caretak­er PM and cabinet and interim Sindh and Balochistan admin­istration. Both leaders also dis­cussed and agreed on conven­ing of the farewell session of the National Assembly. This was sec­ond meeting of Asif Ali Zardari within a week with PM Shehbaz. Sources said there were serious differences within ruling coali­tion on when to dissolve the as­semblies and the name for care­taker PM. According to sources both Asif Ali Zardari and PM Shehbaz Sharif agreed on the name of Abdul Hafeez Sheikh as caretaker PM, however the name would be placed before PDM meeting for consensus, if consensus achieved the name would be formally announced. PM Shehbaz Sharif is in constant contact with his elder brother Nawaz Sharif on political situa­tion and continues to seek guid­ance from him.

‘NO DECISION TAKEN ON NA DISSOLUTION DATE’

Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurang­zeb said Tuesday that no deci­sion had so far been taken on the date of dissolution of the Nation­al Assembly. Responding to me­dia reports regarding the disso­lution of the Lower House, she said in a tweet that the final date to dissolve the assembly will be taken in consultation with the Pakistan Democratic Movement and other coalition parties. She said the decision about the date for the dissolution of the National Assembly will be for­mally announced. ‘PM, Chair­man Senate discuss overall political situation’ Chairman Senate Sadiq Sanjrani called on Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and discussed with him the overall political situa­tion in the country. The meet­ing also discussed progress of development projects in Ba­lochistan. The Chairman Sen­ate paid tribute to PM Sheh­baz Sharif on the restoration of work at Dalbandin Airport in Balochistan on an emer­gency basis. He also lauded the efforts of the prime minis­ter and his economic team for materialization of deal with International Monetary Fund. Separately, Federal Minister for Education and Technical Training Rana Tanvir Hussain called on the prime minister and discussed with him polit­ical matters. He also updated the prime minister about the professional issues related to his ministry. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif Tuesday reit­erated his call for the nation to unite on ‘Charter of Econ­omy’ to ensure the consisten­cy of economic policies and put country on the course to­wards progress and prosper­ity. The prime minister while addressing the groundbreak­ing ceremony of Islamabad Model Special Economic Zone said that with the signing of IMF agreement, the risks for default had ebbed away and the country would have to focus on boosting exports to compete with the neighbor­ing states, particularly the eastern neighbour.

He said the Islamabad Mod­el Special Economic Zone was launched with a delay of five years as nine SEZs were planned to be built un­der China Pakistan Econom­ic Corridor (CPEC). He said despite the land and de­signs, finalised for the SEZs in Punjab, the previous gov­ernment not only impeded the projects but also made conscious efforts to under­mine the Pak-China ties. The prime minister, who earli­er broke ground for the proj­ect and penned a testimonial, said that during Nawaz Shar­if’s tenure, $30 billion Chi­nese investment came to the country in the form of CPEC, featuring power and road projects. He told the gather­ing that after the Chinese in­dustry gone hitech, Pakistan had the golden opportuni­ty to learn from the Chinese textile expertise, go for joint ventures and bring Chinese second-hand machinery to Pakistan to boost its exports.

He said during the last 14 months, the incumbent government remained in ‘fire-fighting’ mode as it had to cope with the unprece­dented floods and record inflation, begotten by the Ukraine war. The prime min­ister said after the IMF agree­ment, the government would mainly focus on boosting in­dustrial and agriculture sec­tors. He said that a Spe­cial Investment Facilitation Council had been established with a mandate to attract in­vestment to the agriculture, mining, information technol­ogy and exports sectors. He said the government would abide by the IMF agreement which had laid a basis for the economic reforms. Citing Bangladesh’s $40 billion ex­port of imported cotton, the prime minister said success­ful nations always learned lessons from past mistakes, and strove to cope with the challenge. “Now, we will have to get out of the loans and attract investment. This is what the Model Special Eco­nomic Zone is for to attract investment from China, UAE, Qatar and others to take Pa­kistan at par with the neigh­bouring nations,” he added. Prime Minister Shehbaz said in the past, the SEZ turned into the development estate and the people have been minting money.

Emphasising the provision of land to the investors in SEZs on easy terms, he said the land in the Bahawalpur Solar Park was leased out at just $1 to the investors which was inevitable for them to save their capital to set up the industry. He also called for establishing a mechanism to cancel the lease agreement if the investor failed to devel­op the industry within the specified time-frame.

‘Facilitating overseas Paki­stanis’Prime Minister Sheh­baz Sharif Tuesday stressed the need of making efforts to facilitate the overseas Paki­stanis with the introduction of different information tech­nology related initiatives.

Addressing an inaugura­tion ceremony of the launch of ‘Online Temporary Mo­bile Registration System for the Overseas Pakistanis and Foreign Nationals’, the prime minister termed the initiative a good step to facilitate mil­lions of overseas Pakistanis, by enabling them to get reg­istration of their mobile phones during their visit to Pakistan and without paying any taxes. He maintained that the facility would now enable the overseas Pakistanis to use their mobile phones for a period of four months af­ter registration on their visit to Pakistan. The prime minis­ter also advised the relevant authorities to streamline the process and hinted that a fi­nancial package for the over­seas Pakistanis would be an­nounced by the government in the coming days.

He opined that the devel­oped countries had made strides in the IT sector and Pakistan possessed immense talent as millions of younger people were getting IT edu­cation. He stressed that the vast opportunities in the IT sector should be fully tapped.

Stressing upon the promo­tion of IT sector, he viewed the growth of IT sector, ex­ploration of minerals and de­velopment of the agriculture sector as the main ingredi­ents of the country’s econo­my. He advised the author­ities to expedite the work on IT park and said with the realization of the IT-re­lated projects, the coun­try would make progress by leaps and bounds. ‘Foreign exchange reserves increased by $600m: PM’ Prime Minis­ter Shehbaz Sharif Tuesday said the country’s foreign ex­change reserves have further increased by six hundred million dollars. Launching the Prime Minister’s Youth Sports Initiative in Islam­abad, he said Exim Bank of China has provided this roll over to the country.