'$9 billion to be spent on improving National Trade Corridor'
ISLAMABAD (February 15 2008): A sum of $9 billion would be spent within a period of next four years to improve country's connectivity with rest of the world especially to Central Asian States and China, member Infrastructure Planning Commission of Pakistan, Dr Asad Shahid said on Thursday.
Talking to a private TV channel, he said that the target of improving National Trade Corridor (NTC) is to improve major highways, railways, ports, etc and focus is to increase country's trade by around $300 billion.
Out of $9 billion, $5 billion would be spent to improve country's highways and $1.5 billion has been allocated to modernise Pakistan Railways and expanding its tracks upto Afghanistan, Dr Shahid said adding that the rest would be spent on improving ports, airports and providing other facilities to improve bilateral trade.
He said that to meet trade targets, trade zones would be established along with motorways while cost of doing business would be reduced significantly aimed at making Pakistani products as competitive and resultantly cheaper as compared to world.
Dr Shahid said that National Highways Authority is spending Rs 30 to 35 million per annum to improve its network. Bridges are being built to reduce Peshawar-Karachi journey by half from 72 hours to 36 hours. He said that Karakoram Highway (KKH) is being improved to attract more and more Chinese tourists in the country. "It is estimated that by 2020 hundred million Chinese tourists would tour the world and Pakistan is planning to attract at least 1 million tourists," he added.
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