Govt will complete its term, next polls in July 2018: PM

faisalabad — Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said on Wednesday the Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) government would complete its term and next general election would be held on July 15, 2018.

He was addressing the groundbreaking ceremony of Hyundai car plant here. The car assembly plant is a joint venture of Nishat Mills Limited (NML), one of the largest integrated textile mills in the country, and Hyundai Motor Corporation (HMC) of South Korea.

The NML’s joint venture will produce HMC passenger cars and one-tonne range commercial vehicles in Pakistan.

The prime minister said the establishment of the car plant by Hyundai showed the confidence of investors in Pakistan as well as the government’s sustained policies, which had created conducive environment for investors.

He said this investment was also a manifestation of the fact that the government’s business-friendly policies had started yielding positive results.

He highlighted the PML-N government’s achievements over the last few years particularly in the area of energy and said a number of electricity generation projects were installed, which addressed the issue of electricity shortage.

The premier also mentioned the construction of roads, highways and motorways across the country as well as the establishment of gas terminals during the last four and a half years and said, the present government did not just talk but delivered. He also spoke about Pakistan’s privatisation policy and said the transparent privatisation of MCB Bank in 1990s — the first in privatisation of financial institutions — was a success story.

The prime minister hoped that the establishment of Hyundai car plant in Faisalabad would help augment the industrial activity in the country.

Later, addressing the members of the Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FCCI), the prime minister said on Wednesday that industrialisation had gained momentum in the country as the government had successfully reined in the most ticklish problem of energy shortage.

He said the government had fulfilled its commitment to overcome electricity and gas shortage and now its focus was to cut the cost of doing business, particularly for the industrial sector. — APP