ON THE OCCASION OF INDEPENDENCE DAY, ICCI PRESIDENT URGES UPON THE NATION TO RENEW ITS PLEDGE TO TAKE PAKISTAN TO GREAT HEIGHTS

On 14th August 2008, Pakistan is celebrating its 61st Independence Day and on this auspicious occasion, we as a whole nation should  renew our pledge to work hard with honesty and dedication to take our beloved country to great heights in the comity of nations. These sentiments were expressed by Muhammad Ijaz Abbasi, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry while conveying his message to the nation on its 61st Independence Day. He said Pakistan came into being as a result of a long and arduous struggle by the Muslims of South Asia under the dynamic and unmatched leadership of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah and the guiding principles in this struggle were unswerving faith in Allah, discipline in our ranks and unity in the face of adversity, but lamented that with the passage of time, we as a nation could not keep up and live with those noble sentiments.

Muhammad Ijaz Abbasi said though our beloved country has come a long way since emerging as a fledgling state on the map of the world on 14th August 1947 and Allah Almighty has blessed Pakistan with His bounties, but we need to do our role honestly and with full dedication to exploit these bounties for the development of our country. He said Pakistan has an abundance of natural resources and our land is home to rivers, mountains, deserts and fertile plains while the people of Pakistan are intelligent, dynamic and hardworking but they need proper guidance and enabling environment to use their full potential for the progress and growth of the economy and the country at large. He said though Pakistan has taken tremendous strides in the fields of agriculture, industrial growth science and technology, but still there is lot of scope to develop all sectors of the economy by utilizing our resources prudently.

Muhammad Ijaz Abbasi said today is undoubtedly an occasion of rejoicing but it is also a day for introspection which demands from the nation to take stock of how far have we as a nation been successful. He said those countries who got independence after Pakistan and got economic policies from Pakistan have far outpaced Pakistan economically and are now considered as emerging economies of Asia to catch up with developed world soon, but Pakistan despite having abundant natural resources and highly talented human capital could not develop up to its full potential and urged upon the nation to renew its pledge to put in their best efforts for the country to become a thriving economy.

In the end, ICCI President appealed to every Pakistani to come forward and join hands to defeat those forces which are creating hurdles in the development of the country. He called upon the nation to stand up and pledge anew that we will adhere to the guiding principles of Unity, Faith and Discipline and strive for making Pakistan a truly modern democratic, dynamic & progressive economy where business and industry could flourish easily, country could attract further investment and the nation could grow in accordance with the aspirations of the Muslims of South Asia and ideals of the founders of Pakistan.