The government will complete the extension of the Lahore-Sialkot-Kharian Motorway to Rawalpindi during its present term, Minister of State for Finance and Railways Bilal Azhar Kayani has said, linking the road project to wider efforts to grow the economy and support small and medium-sized businesses. He made the commitment while speaking at the oath-taking ceremony for the newly elected office-bearers of the Jhelum Chamber of Commerce and Industry, where he encouraged the local business community to follow the example of the Sialkot Chamber in turning Jhelum into an industrial and commercial hub.
Mr Kayani asked the chamber to draw up a comprehensive plan for industrial development in the district and promised to return in exactly one month to hear its proposals in person. He also announced that a delegation from Jhelum would visit the Sialkot Chamber to learn from its experience and to look for practical ways to strengthen the local chamber’s capacity. The message was that Jhelum should not wait for outside help alone, but should come forward with concrete ideas that the government can then back.
On jobs, the minister argued that employment is created by the private sector, while the government’s job is to provide a supportive environment and the help businesses need to grow. He told the chamber that if it presented solid industrial development proposals, he would take its case up at the federal level. He added that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is committed to economic development and to the promotion of small and medium-sized industries, and noted that the board of the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority, known as SMEDA, has been reconstituted to make it easier for such businesses to get support.
Earlier in the ceremony, Mr Kayani administered the oath to the chamber’s newly elected president Azhar Dar, senior vice-president Abdul Ghafoor Butt, vice-president Nadeem Khan and other office-bearers. For Jhelum’s traders, the motorway promise matters because better road links can cut travel time, open up new markets and make it easier for goods and workers to move. The next test will come in a month’s time, when the minister returns to see whether the chamber has turned its ambitions into a plan he can carry forward.
