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LAHORE, Jul 03 (APP):Provincial Minister for Industries and Commerce Chaudhry Shafay Hussain inaugurated the exhibition organized by School of Design and Textiles UMT (University of Management and Technology) here Wednesday.
The students set up 170 stalls in the exhibition held at Aiwan Quaid-e-Azam. The provincial minister inspected the stalls and appreciated the creative work of the students.
Later talking to media, the Provincial Minister said, “Our students are very talented and they need support. Steps are being taken to increase the linkages of students with the industry.”
He said that there is great potential in the textile sector and the employment of thousands of people is related to this sector. Government is establishing Garment City in Quaid-e-Azam Business Park Sheikhupura to promote textile sector. Garment City, being built on an area of 650 acres, will operate on solar energy, he added. He said that the government is striving to set up a solar panels manufacturing factory in Punjab in this regard. Useful discussions have been held with several foreign solar companies. Next month, two big foreign investor groups are visiting Punjab, he added.
The Provincial Minister said that cotton is a cash crop and its production needs to be increased. “I will talk to the federal government for lifting ban on cotton seed and removal of taxes on cotton ginners.” Investments in Special Economic Zones are exempted from income tax for up to 10 years and one time duty-free machinery import facility is also available, the minister added.
Chaudhry Shafay Hussain said that the IPPs also have to come towards solar energy now, till the problem of Kalabagh Dam is not solved, the government have to focus on building small dams. He added, “Pakistan is rich in resources, if every department works diligently, we would not need to borrow from any financial institution.”
The UMT Rector Dr. Asif Raza, Dr. Mumtaz Hussain, Dr. Mudassar Abbas and others were also present.