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Moin urges businessmen to invest in cottage units

RECORDER REPORT

KARACHI: The Federal Minister for Interior Lt. Gen. Moin-uddin Haider (Retd), has urged the business community to invest in cottage and small industrial units in order to create jobs and increase exports.

Speaking at a meeting of the Korangi Association of Trade and Industry (KATI), he said, "business community should re-invest what they earn to establish new small and medium size units and give up depending on loan giving agencies to share responsibility of creating jobs with government".

He said that the government was engaged in down-sizing or right-sizing its own departments and was not in a position to create job opportunities in larger numbers for the upcoming generation.

He also invited the business community to suggest ways to boost local investment and exports and to bring down the prices of locally produced goods.

Moin-uddin Haider said, "Now we should start depending on our own resources instead of looking towards donor agencies to support us and finance new industrial units".

Giving the example of Russia and Japan, he said Russia had everything but it collapsed for not depending on its own resources whereas Japan had nothing and was now virtually ruling the world economically.

He said Pakistan had everything and it should start working to utilise its own resources.

He said that the ministry of interior was establishing an anti smuggling task-force and representatives of business community would be included in this task force.

Besides, this the government was also establishing various task forces to tackle issues related to business community. All these task-forces would have business community representation, he informed.

He said accountability process would be speeded up very soon and the people would see the positive results of accountability process.

About decoities in Site industrial area, the minister warned the police officials to perform their duties properly otherwise they would be supposed to be involved in crime. It was not believable that the dacoits continued dismantling industrial units and loaded the machinery in trucks and went away but the area police remained unaware of the crime. He also warned the truck owners that they should come forward and inform the police where the machinery was otherwise their trucks would be confiscated.

The Interior Minister said that an investigation had been carried about religious teaching institutions through CIA and other agencies. These institution were found to be centres of learning the Quran and that these schools never indulged in spreading terrorism.

However, some sectarian groups were found involved in arms training and firing at each other's Mosques. These groups were given a final warning to giveup their activities otherwise be prepared for action by the government.

Moinuddin Haider said that the draft-proposal for reforms in police would be tabled before the federal cabinet in the next few days.

Welcoming the guests, Shaikh Manzar Alam, Chairman, KATI, suggested that an organisation on the pattern of Site Limited should be created in the Korangi Industrial area to cater for the needs of the area like sewerage, water, roads etc.