Jhagra says mining industry has potential for industrial growth

Jhagra says mining industry has potential for industrial growth

KARACHI: Finance Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Taimur Saleem Khan Jhagra on Tuesday said that mining industry has huge potential for industrial growth and job creation.

The KPK finance minister said about the mining industry this while visiting Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Tuesday and opened the trading by ringing the bell.

“Hydro-power projects may be at a different scale but mining is a definite sector where investment opportunities by the private sector will be explored,” he said.

He added that mines in FATA are untapped and provide huge potential for exploration for industrial growth and job creation.

He emphasised that despite the fact that FATA was a frontier region, economically and physically, if it were brought into the mainstream economy of the country, supported by project development and investment in the people of the region, this region will progress and stabilize well with the passage of time.

It is not an impossible task and given that the Pashtuns are the most integrated of all ethnicity of the country, therefore this may well be a realizable goal, he added.

Jhagra said that investment in the province must come in for infrastructure development and for increasing labor productivity through vocational training and skill teaching and this is a main objective for him.

He added that he would welcome suggestions from PSX for raising funds for these kinds of projects.

He added that his focus was on educational initiatives as well as vocational and skill based trainings.

“It is very important to develop the vocational and technical skills of the people of the province and the Government will do all it can to support such initiatives so the people of KPK can realize their passion and potential to achieve a lot in the medium term,” he said.

Minister for Finance of KPK Taimur Jhagra, credited the Prime Minister for encouraging initiatives for tourism development in the province.

Jhagra said that KPK province was on the road to develop many tourist spots and cities to attract tourism.

He added that tourism is an exciting venture for the KPK Government and will offer immediate revenue streams to alleviate the cash flow position to some extent.

The Finance Minister added that in order to develop tourism in the province, Swat Expressway will be built which will be a game changer for tourism in KPK.

The PTI-led coalition government has prioritized tourism as a key engine of provincial economic growth.

KPK wants to become a preferred tourism destination for domestic as well as foreign tourists.

Various departments are being briefed and prepared to streamline their goals in line with the needs of tourism promotion.

The provincial government recently handed over 15 rest houses to the Tourism Corporation Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (TCKP) for commercial use, the Minister said.

In the end of the meeting, the Minister thanked the PSX team and invited the Exchange and the business community to come to KPK and look into the various avenues for investment, opportunities for partnerships and help give concrete structure to his vision of a developed and progressive Khyber Pukhtunkhwa province.

The PSX team was grateful to the Minister for his visit and wished him all the success for his future endeavours.

Sulaiman Mehdi, Chairman of the Board; Richard Morin, Managing Director; Ahmed Chinoy, Amjad Pervez, Ashraf Bawany, Shehzad Chamdia, and Masoud Ali Naqvi, Board Members; Senior Management of PSX; and industry participants including Farid Alam and Osman Khan welcomed the distinguished guest.

Richard Morin thanked and appreciated the Minister for his visit and led him to the gong podium along with his team. Opening the trading day by striking the gong, Taimur Jhagra briefed the media wherein he thanked the PSX team for inviting him for the ceremony.

He added that he was looking forward to fruitful discussions with PSX team for the role PSX can play in the economic development of KPK province and how KPK can assist the capital market and the Exchange in its efforts to increase its activities in the province.