A delegation of the members of New York State Assembly and American Pakistani Public Affairs Committee, led by Deputy Speaker Phil Ramos, called on Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Sardar Ali Amin Khan Gandapur in Islamabad the other day.
Provincial ministers Syed Qasim Ali Shah, Faisal Khan Tarakai, Muzammil Aslam, Chief Secretary Nadeem Aslam Chaudhry, Additional Chief Secretary Syed Imtiaz Hussain Shah and other concerned high ups of the provincial government were also present on the occasion.
Matters related to promoting state to state relationships between the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and New York State came under discussion.Similarly, prospects for mutual cooperation in the different social sectors were also discussed in the meeting. Both sides agreed to sign Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) for partnership in Health, Education, Trade, Human Resource and other important sectors.
It was also agreed on the occasion to initiate Nursing Exchange and Tele Health programs with the mutual cooperation of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government and New York State.Talking to the delegates, the chief minister said that the provincial government had always welcomed and appreciated the support of US government in the different public welfare projects, adding that expending cooperation between both the governments would further strengthen the relationships between Pakistan and the United States.
Touching upon the priorities of his government, Ali Amin Khan Gandapur said that the health and education had been the top most priority of PTI government in the province since day one, and we had introduced multiple reforms in these sectors, which had resulted in significant improvement in providing quality healthcare and learning facilities to the people as per their expectations.
“Entire population of the province is being provided with free healthcare facilities in the reputable public and private hospitals enlisted under the Health Card Scheme of the provincial government”, he said and disclosed that his government is also working on introducing “Education Card” on the analogy of Sehat Card Scheme.
He maintained that enrollment of the out-of-school children as well as increasing female literacy rate in the province was an integral part of the priorities of incumbent provincial government. Similarly, he said that the government would need support in providing scholarships to students for higher education abroad as well as imparting modern vocational training to the talented youth, adding that both the governments can benefit from the skilled manpower of the province.
While mentioning the investment opportunities in the province, the chief minister said that we have immense potential for foreign investment in the various productive sectors, especially in tourism, mines and minerals, agriculture and hydropower.
The government is also looking forward for investment in these sectors. He said that the government, under its ease of doing business policy, will provide conducive environment and all possible facilities to foreigners interested in investing here, adding that efforts are underway to putting aforesaid potential sectors on modern lines with the aim to increase the revenue stream of the province and to provide job opportunities to the people.
He maintained that an integrated strategy has been devised to strengthen economy of this war affected province; necessary legislations are also in progress so as to sustain the continuity of reform process of the provincial government.
The delegates on this occasion, lauded the reform initiatives introduced in the health, education, police and other social sectors. They said that the provincial government’s initiatives aimed at dealing with the impacts of climate change, are highly commendable, adding that increasing the forest cover of the province to 26% is undoubtedly a great achievement of the provincial government. Apart from this, extending free healthcare facilities to entire population of the province is also an admirable and exemplary initiative of the government, they remarked.
