LAHORE: Prime Minister Imran Khan laid the foundation-stone of the country’s first-ever Central Business District in Lahore, a commercial hub aimed at ensuring ease-of-doing-business.
Addressing at the foundation-laying ceremony, the prime minister said the project would touch the trading volume of Rs 6,000 billion with its first phase of Commercial and Business Hub to generate activities worth Rs 1,300 billion. “With huge tenders involved, this project will witness a major take-off in a short span of time and also transform Lahore into a modern city,” he said.
The prime minister said the environment-friendly and urban generation project will be carried out on vertical principles with the construction of high-rise buildings. He regretted that earlier the lack of planning resulted in haphazard expansion of big cities like Lahore and Karachi that became unmanageable with time.
PM Imran Khan stressed that vertical construction was the effective-most solution for the management of big cities in order to accommodate maximum population.
He said the Central Business District would ensure environment-friendly policies with its unique features of botanical gardens and green spaces. The concept will plan activities in accordance with the market requirements and as per the unique dynamics of each district.
He said he was the biggest supporter of preservation and conservation of environment and always emphasized on considering the environmental aspect while carrying out any project. He pointed that the apathy of previous governments inflicted huge damage to the environmental conditions of urban cities in particular.
PM Imran Khan said for the first time, the government introduced policies to provide low-cost housing and encouraged banks to offer mortgage facility to facilitate the common man. The Naya Pakistan Housing, he said, was a significant project for the uplift of low-income groups who struggled hard to own a residential place.
He mentioned that the government inherited several problems including crippling economy, however took effective steps to ensure financial stability. He lauded the efforts of Chief Minister Punjab for maintaining a faster pace of development projects in the province.
