MULTAN, Jan 28th: Minister of state & Chairman of Board of Investment Saleem'H Mandviwala has said that present government has embarked upon massiveplans of infra structure development which requires 40 billion dollars in the next five years and this amount increases to about 65 billion dollars if water storage dams are included and Government alone cannot borne this huge investment. Delivering his speech at a seminar on Public private partnership (PPP) at MCCI auditorium jointly organised by IMU Planning commission in collaboration with Multan Chamber of Commerce & Industry and chaired by Malik Asrar Ahmed Awan president of MCCI.,The minister said that there was no investment in oil & gas exploration during the last seven years because ther was no petroleum policy in Pakistan.However prsent regime had frame a n attractive policy which had attracte the investors. He said that a number of foreign firms wereexploring the oil and gas in the country He said that Gas shortage would be ended with the import of Liquified Natural Gas and we are taking interest in the early import of LNG. He said that there was no coal authority in the country consequently we could not utilize our coal reserves which were sufficient to generate one lac megawatt electricity for 200 years.However present regime introduced THar Coal authority to exploit these resources. Mandviwala said that there should an energy policy for 50 years to put the country on the track of progress and prosperity. He said that Rental power plants would start functioning during next two months which may cause an increase 6 percent power tariff. He said that due representation would be given to MCCI in a businessmen delegation for Turkey. The Seminar was also addressed by Lt.Gen(retd) Muhammad Zubair member Planning Commission, Malik Asrar Ahmed Awan, Tanvir Ahmed Sheikh .Dr.Sania Nishtar and Arsalan Vardag also spoke. TheMCCI President said in his welcome address that The Multan Chamber of Commerce & Industry is the premier Chamber of the Southern Punjab and is playing a pivotal role in the economic development of this area. We often arrange training programs, seminars and workshops to provide awareness and latest information related to the trade & industry to the business community as well as the general public in collaboration with various governmental and private departments and organizations. The seminar of today is also a part of this chain.There is a dire need of Public Private Partnership in the infrastructure development of Pakistan because it is not possible for our country to bear the huge investment in infrastructure in the current scenario. We appreciate the efforts of present regime for involving private sector in the governmental development projects. Establishing Public Private Partnership for infrastructure development is one of the key area for the government to pursue for short and long term development of the country. We also appreciate the Infrastructure Management Unit for taking the initiative in starting a subproject “Integration & Streamlining PPP in Planning Process” which aims to create general awareness on Public Private Partnership at national level and specifically to train professionals working on PPP related matters from all relevant public and private organizations. This Chamber assures you of its full cooperation in promoting the PPP for infrastructure development in the country.