ISLAMABAD, JAN 19 (DNA) — The Chairman of National Business Group Pakistan, the President of the Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum, the President of All Karachi Industrial Alliance, the Chairman of the FPCCI Advisory Board, and the President and former provincial minister, Mian Zahid Hussain, said on Saturday that the death of fifty people, including 44 Pakistanis, in the accident of a boat illegally going to Spain via West Africa is regrettable.
Earlier, many Pakistanis have lost their lives while going abroad in search of employment. In contrast, in recent December, forty Pakistani youths who went in search of jobs near Greece died, he said. Mian Zahid Hussain said that human smuggling should be stopped and strict legal action should be taken against those involved in human trafficking.
Talking to the business community, the veteran business leader said a law should be made to award life imprisonment for such crimes. The business leader said that 63 per cent of the country’s population consists of youth, and they should be provided with technical education and employment opportunities within the country.
Moreover, legal employment opportunities should be found abroad for the youth equipped with technical education so they are not forced to risk their lives in search of employment. He said that human smugglers and their facilitators are busy defrauding the public. Notices were issued to 38 officers of the Federal Investigation Agency in the investigation against human trafficking.
At the same time, the Additional Director of Immigration at Sialkot Airport was removed from his post, but this did not make any difference. Mian Zahid Hussain said that according to the Walking Borders, a record 10,457 immigrants died trying to reach Spain during the year 2024.
If the country’s GDP rate were seven percent, it would help end unemployment. Still, the situation has become alarming because the rate has been around two to two and a half percent for many years. He noted that the country’s economic direction in the past was not entirely correct.
Due to the wrong economic policies of the past, investment in unproductive sectors has been beneficial. In contrast, investment in industry is a complete loss-making business.These policies prompted serious industrialists to change course and become more interested in unproductive sectors like trading, stock exchange and property.
Mian Zahid Hussain said that the country’s population is increasing rapidly, and two million people are turning to Pakistan’s labour market every year. Still, there is no provision for their employment, causing social problems and human tragedies.
The government is correcting the economy’s direction, and things have greatly improved. Still, strong measures are needed to promote industrialization so that people invest in productive sectors instead of unproductive ones, without which reducing unemployment is impossible.
Mian Zahid Hussain further said that to promote industrialization in the country, the prices of electricity, gas and bank mark-up should be brought to par with those of neighbouring countries, the tax system should be improved, the economy should be digitalized, local production should be encouraged instead of imports and the harassment of industrialists by various institutions should be stopped. —DNA
 — The Chairman of National Business Group Pakistan, the President of the Pakistan Businessmen){kind=link}