SKARDU: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday said that with improved connectivity and a state-of-the-art international airport, the scenic region of Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) was ready to turn into a top destination for local and foreign tourists and ensure the economic prosperity of its people.
“The people of GB will soon witness an unprecedented era of economic prosperity with revenue generation through tourism and employment opportunities,” he said in his address to the local population after the inauguration of the Skardu International Airport and Jaglot-Skardu road during a day-long visit to the mountainous region.
The prime minister said the significant pieces of infrastructure would boost tourism in the region.
Khan said the initiative would promote both summer and winter tourism in GB and attract a big influx and announced to establish luxury resorts to attract more foreign tourists.
The prime minister said he had travelled the world over but never seen a splendid mountainous range like the one in Gilgit-Baltistan. “If Switzerland can earn $70 billion revenue annually, the GB, too, possessed the natural resources to exploit its potential,” he said.
He said Pakistan could earn billions in revenues from tourism, may it be from the scenic northern areas or the diversity of religious tourism.
He, however, cautioned the locals to safeguard their interests as outsiders would be eying their property and land in view of the town’s tourism potential.
Khan lauded National Highway Authority (NHA) and Frontier Works Organisation (FWO) for working relentlessly in improving roads connectivity in the region.
He said connecting GB with Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJ&K) through a network of roads would also bring improvement in the lives of locals.
He said hydroelectricity projects have been set up in GB to meet the water requirements.
Khan said a country could not progress unless it uplifted its neglected and unprivileged segments of the society.
He said he was prioritising the development of the areas that lacked facilities of communication and health, including Gilgit-Baltistan, Balochistan, former tribal areas, and southern Punjab.
“My vision of a prosper Pakistan is inclusive development that caters to the needs of poor and weak,” he added.
He said a society was known for its socio-economic justice where poor and rich had access to basic facilities of life.
The prime minister said his government had taken a number of steps for the development of the masses and expressed the desire that he wanted a major improvement in the lives of the underprivileged on completion of his tenure.
He mentioned that from today onwards, the government had initiated the provision of the ration on subsidised rates. Also, the work on expanding the network of universal health insurance of Rs1 million for every household was underway after its launch in Khyber Pukhtunkhwa (KP).
