As he announced a programme to facilitate industrialisation in Faisalabad, Prime Minister Imran Khan said he hoped one day Manchester would say that Faisalabad has overtaken it in terms of industrial progress.
Addressing a ceremony attended by the businessmen on Wednesday, the PM said: “If Faisalabad, once known as Pakistan’s Manchester, had kept up its current pace of industrial development, it would have left even Manchester behind.”
According to the prime minister, it said it was the government’s job to facilitate industrialisation and the business community.
“We are now working on how we can aid the business community and investors so that jobs are created. So this cycle can only continue when we [remove] hurdles for the industrial class,” he added.
The PM said in the ’60s Pakistan was used as an example for the developing world, adding that several countries, such as Malaysia and South Korea, borrowed its first five-year programme. “People now go to Dubai for their vacations but the sheikhs used to come here.”
The PM also commented on the local government system, saying successful cities around the world function “like countries”. He said that the modern cities were self-sufficient, unlike Faisalabad that depended on the provincial government for funds to fix roads, build hospitals.
