Islamabad to be made hub of international activities: PM
Performs ground breaking of a five-star hotel
By Muhammad Anis
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz Monday said the government has several plans to make Islamabad a hub of international activities for Central Asia, South Asia and the Middle East to hold conferences, conventions, seminars and other events and promote tourism.
The prime minister was addressing the ground breaking ceremony of a five-star hotel 'Grand Hyatt' here Monday. The hotel is being raised by local investors who hail from country's industrial city, Faisalabad.
The PM said Pakistan has ancient ruins of Gandhara and six top mountain peaks out of twelve are here, which have great attraction for tourists. He said that Islamabad was an ever expanding and most attractive city of the country saying the coming up five-star hotels and other high rise buildings would be impressive addition to it.
Shaukat Aziz said Pakistan's economy was growing and there was always need for world standard hospitality services. He pointed out that Islamabad was also an IT capital and many companies were opening offices here and IT parks coming up.
He said that the international activities in Islamabad and other parts of the country would take a boost with the construction of modern airport which would be connected with Motorway so that guests could come and go back with ease.
He observed that the construction of five-star hotel adjacent to Jinnah Convention Centre along with providing job opportunities to hundreds of people during its construction and on completion would also benefit a number of industries.
The prime minister expressed the hope that the project would be completed as soon as possible and would provide world-class facilities to the visitors. Interior Minister Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao expressed the hope that the Grand Hyatt would be a landmark for Islamabad's development.
He said a lot of high-rise buildings are being built in Islamabad including more five star hotels. Sherpao said that besides five-star hotels, a number of three-star and budget hotels would also be constructed in the federal capital.
Chief Executive of BNP Group, Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, said the hotel would provide all the necessary and expected amenities of world-class five-star hotel. He said the hotel would provide ample facilities to hold international conferences, conventions and other event and it would also be the first hotel of the Grant Hyatt chain of hotels in Pakistan.
He said Pakistan offers a very secure investment opportunities to the investors. The Grand Hyatt Hotel will be completed at a cost of $260 million and would be ready for opening at the end of 2009.
The project would be raised on a plot measuring 13.5 acres purchased from the Capital Development Authority for Rs4 billion and it would have 360 rooms and 200 service apartments.
