DNA

FAISALABAD, SEPT 21 – Government is fully committed to provide easy access to much needed capital to our youth ranging from 21 to 45 years of age so that they could fully exploit their entrepreneurial skills to further strengthen the national economy, said Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Youth Affairs and Chairman PM Youth Program Mr. Usman Dar.

Addressing a cheque distribution ceremony under Kamyat Youth Program (KYP) in the Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry here today, he said that the government has allocated Rs.100 billion for the first phase of this program.He appreciated the skills of Pakistani youth and said that the successive government failed to exploit their God-gifted capabilities and thus they became a burden instead of gearing up the pace of national progress and prosperity. The micro, cottage and SME sectors faced continuous crisis as the successive government did not concentrate on these segments, he said, adding that the Prime Minister is fully aware of the importance of the textile sector and is considering setting up a full fledged textile ministry very soon to focus on the SME sector.

Regarding Kamyab Youth Program (KYP), he said that the SME sector was badly ignored in the past despite 80% share in exports and 25-30% share in GDP. “In spite of its excellent performance, only 6% of total released loans were gone to the SME sector”, he added.

He said that KYP will also generate one million jobs for our youths. “Government is also working on “Ease of doing business” and “Cost of doing business”, he said and added that taxes would also be curtailed within next few months, enabling our exporters to compete with their international competitors.

Regarding high rates of electricity and gas, he said that it is due to the ill-conceived policies of previous governments that restrain the present government to trim it. However, on the direction of the Prime Minister, the refund claims of the last many years are being cleared on top priority basis.

About the popularity of KYP in Faisalabad division, he said that as many as 21,000 youth have uploaded demand of Rs.27 billion. “The scrutiny of these applications will be started very soon as all 21 banks have been involved in it”, he added.

He further said that loans worth Rs.1.3 billion have already been released to 300 SMEs under this program while loans of Rs.5 billion have also been sanctioned for 6000-7000 small units. “These units will get loans within a couple of months”, he said and added that under this program, 100,000 to 150,000 youth will also get jobs within 1-1.5 years. He claimed that all these loans would be disbursed purely on merit basis without any political consideration.

Mian Farrukh Habib, Federal Parliamentary Secretary for Railways said that the PTI government is making strenuous efforts to resolve business related problems of Faisalabad. “Credit goes to the PTI which had announced its first textile policy even before coming into the power”, he said and added that under this policy subsidized gas and electricity was ensured to the export sector which not only geared up the industrial process but also played a pivotal role in enhancing our exports. “After corona our industries are now working with full capacity while many of them have advance orders in hand”, he added.

Regarding the weaving sector, he said that it was switched over from export to domestic production but after receiving hefty export orders, it again started producing export products.

He said that the government is fully supporting the youth so that they could contribute their productive role in the overall development of the national economy.

Rana Sikandar Azam Khan President FCCI in his address of welcome told that this chamber is safeguarding the legitimate interests of 15 million people of this region. He claimed that almost all major issues and problems of the business community have already been solved while the current executive body has also purchased five acres of land in M-III Industrial City for construction of a new and state-of-the-art FCCI complex.

However, he requested Special Assistant to PM Mr. Usman Dar to support their pending issues of subsidized electricity and gas for the industrial sector.

He said that Faisalabad is a city of power looms which could not bear electricity at the rate of 13 cent. This issue should also be brought into the notice of Prime Minister so that it could be resolved without any further delay.

He appreciated the KYP and demanded that its application forms should be made simple and easy. Similarly, the limit of loan without security should be enhanced from Rs.1 million to Rs.5 million.

Later, Rana Sikandar Azam Khan along with SVP Saqib Majeed and VP Abdul Waheed Sheikh presented FCCI shield to Mr. Usman Dar.

Earlier Mr. Usman Dar planted a sapling of araucaria in the lawn of FCCI. He also distributed cheques under KYP in addition to inaugurating a help desk of KYP in FCCI