Grand dialogue necessary to depoliticise different sectors: Shehbaz

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Sunday that the country required a "grand dialogue" to depoliticise different sectors, stressing that politicians should think above themselves and accord top priority to the progress and prosperity of the nation, reported APP.

“A grand dialogue among the stakeholders is necessary for the country so that public-friendly projects and development sectors are not politicised,” said the premier while addressing the inauguration ceremony of Indus Hospital in Lahore.

He said that a consensus should be developed over the national economy in such a manner that it should not be disturbed by changes in governments.

He opined that there were certain sectors of the economy like IT and industrialization through which the country could move ahead.

PM Shehbaz inaugurates Saleem Memorial Trust Hospital in Lahore

The prime minister maintained that a country could not survive on debts.

Comparing Pakistan’s export volume with neighbouring Bangladesh, he said its annual exports have risen to the $40 billion mark while Pakistan had an export value of$ 27-28 billion annually.

The prime minister, referring to the global economic meltdown, said that his government had increased the petroleum prices with a heavy heart.

PM Shehbaz further assured that his government would try its best to provide relief to the poor.

He said that the government was looking to ease out impacts of price hikes by extending financial relief to over 7 crore population.

PM Shehbaz said a number of hospitals in Punjab, including 250-bed Recep Tayyip Erdogan Hospital in Muzaffargarh, named after the President of Turkey, was handed over to the management of Indus Hospital to run the matters efficiently.

He lauded the founders of the recently-inaugurated hospital, namely Iqbal Kachi, Javed Ihsan Bhatti and Mian Muhammad Ahsab, for donating billions of rupees to the hospital in Lahore.