PM Imran Lays Foundation-stone of First Central Business District in Lahore
LAHORE– Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday laid the foundation-stone of the country’s first-ever Central Business District in Lahore, a commercial hub aimed at ensuring ease-of-doing-business.
The concept will plan activities in accordance with the market requirements and as per the unique dynamics of each district.
Addressing at the foundation-laying ceremony, the Prime Minister said the project would touch the trading volume of Rs 6,000 billion with its first phase of Commercial and Business Hub to generate activities
worth Rs 1,300 billion.
“With huge tenders involved, this project will witness a major take-off in short span of time and also transform Lahore into a modern city,” he said.
The Prime Minister said the environment-friendly and urban generation
project will be carried out on vertical principles with construction
of high-rise buildings.
He regretted that earlier, lack of planning, resulted in haphazard
expansion of big cities like Lahore and Karachi that became
unmanageable with time.
He stressed that vertical construction was the effective-most solution
for the management of big cities in order to accommodate maximum
population.
Imran Khan said the Central Business District would ensure
environment-friendly policies with its unique features of botanical
gardens and green spaces.
The Prime Minister said he was the biggest supporter of preservation
and conservation of environment and always emphasized on considering
the environmental aspect while carrying out any project.
He pointed that the apathy of previous governments inflicted huge
damage to the environmental conditions of urban cities in particular.
Imran Khan said for the first time, the government introduced policies
to provide low-cost housing and encouraged banks to offer mortgage
facility to facilitate common man.
The Naya Pakistan Housing, he said, was a significant project for the
uplift of low-income groups who struggled hard to own a residential
place.
He mentioned that the government inherited several problems including
crippling economy, however took effective steps to ensure financial
stability.
He said for six consecutive months, Pakistan’s current account remained in surplus and acknowledged the contribution of overseas Pakistanis in this regard.
The Prime Minister lauded the efforts of Chief Minister Punjab for maintaining a faster pace of development projects in the province.