Saif ur Rahman Khan Acting President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (ICCI) said that developed countries have achieved fast economic growth by focusing on development of industrial zones, but industrial areas in Islamabad were facing multiple problems due to which industrial activities were suffering.

He called upon the Capital Development Authority (CDA) and Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad (MCI) to focus on better development of industrial areas in the federal capital that would give boost to industrialisation in the region and enhance exports.

He said this while talking to Muhammad Ali Mirza, Senior Vice President, Islamabad Industrial Area Association (IIAA) during his visit to ICCI. Waqar Bakhtawari, Tahir Ayub, Khalid Chaudhry, Saeed Ahmed Bhatti and others were also present at the occasion.

Saif ur Rahman Khan said that on the recommendations of ICCI, CDA Board few years ago had approved amendments in industrial building byelaws, but CDA has neither notified them nor implemented them.

He demanded that CDA should issue notification of amended building byelaws approved by its Board that would facilitate the growth of industrial activities and create more jobs in the region. He assured that ICCI would cooperate with IIAA for resolving key issues of local industry.

Speaking at the occasion, Muhammad Ali Mirza, Senior Vice President, Islamabad Industrial Area Association said that CDA in the past had cancelled some industrial plots on the pretext of non-conforming use and demanded that CDA should restore all such cancelled plots and allow multiple businesses on them to promote business activities.

He said that the roads and footpaths in industrial areas in Islamabad were broken due to which heavy duty vehicles were facing problems in transportation of goods. He said that some street lights were not working in industrial areas while the arrangements of sanitation and water supply were also not satisfactory. He emphasized that CDA and MCI should take solid measures to address these issues.

He said that industrial areas in Islamabad were providing jobs to thousands of people, but no serious efforts were made to develop them on modern lines. He stressed that CDA focus on developing all industrial areas in Islamabad on modern lines that would yield multiple benefits for the local economy as it would promote industrialization, exports, employment, tax revenue and fast economic growth of the region.

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