Finance and railways state minister Bilal Azhar Kayani told a Jhelum business gathering that work on the Lahore-Sialkot-Kharian-Rawalpindi motorway is meant to reach completion before this government leaves office. He framed the corridor as part of a wider drive for growth and help for smaller firms.
Pledge made at chamber ceremony
Kayani was in Jhelum to swear in the new leadership of the city’s traders’ chamber. He administered the oath to president Azhar Dar, senior vice-president Abdul Ghafoor Butt, vice-president Nadeem Khan, and the rest of the incoming team. Among those present were traders’ association head Malik Mohammad Iqbal, former chamber chief Zahid Butt, industrialists, political figures, and many members.
Speaking after the ceremony, he pressed Jhelum’s business community to study how Sialkot’s chamber operates and to aim for a stronger industrial and trading base at home. He thanked the Sialkot chamber’s president for offering help to Jhelum’s traders.
Industrial plan and a one-month follow-up
Kayani asked the local chamber to draft a detailed industrial roadmap. He said he would come back to the same forum after one month to listen to those ideas. He also said a Jhelum group would travel to Sialkot’s chamber to see its methods and look for ways to strengthen local capacity.
Jobs, he argued, mainly come from private enterprise; the state’s task is to set up a helpful climate and back practical schemes. If the chamber brings solid factory and trade proposals, he said he would take their case to the federal level.
SME push and the motorway link
The minister said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif wants faster economic progress and stronger support for small and medium firms. He noted that SMEDA—the federal agency that assists such businesses—has had its board freshly formed so that help can reach them more easily.
On transport, he again underlined the Lahore-Sialkot-Kharian-Rawalpindi motorway as a priority the cabinet intends to see through in this term. For traders between Punjab’s industrial towns and the twin cities, a finished corridor would cut journey times and ease freight once open end to end—though he did not give a construction timetable or opening date beyond that political pledge.
Aasan alfaaz mein
Wazir Bilal Kayani ne Jhelum mein kaha ke Lahore se Sialkot aur Kharian hote hue Rawalpindi tak motorway is hukumat ke daur mein mukammal hogi. Unhon ne local chamber ko Sialkot jaisi planning karne ko kaha. Ek mahine baad woh unki industrial scheme sunne aayenge. Aam logon ke liye yeh matlab hai ke shehron ke darmiyan safar aur maal ki aamd-o-raft baad mein asaan ho sakti hai.
