LAHORE: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday said that they were fully cognisant of the importance of the labourers and workers in the national economy, urging the wealthy, businessmen, investors and industrialists to prioritise improving the working conditions of the their employees.

Addressing a gathering of labourers and workers from different sectors at his residence in connection with the observance of International Labour Day, the prime minister said that country’s economic situation was challenging but they were striving to turn it around with collective efforts and sincerity.

He said that Pakistan would soon become a powerful country through a functioning of a fair system and the hard work of the workers.

The prime minister said that the government was striving to bring about substantial changes in the national economy and to recover billion of rupees being wasted due to corruption.

Referring to his recent visit to Saudi Arabia, PM Shehbaz said that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and other leadership desired to see Pakistan moving on the path of progress.

The Saudi business and investors’ delegation would soon visit Pakistan which would increase businesses and job opportunities in the country, he added.

The prime minister said that in the upcoming fiscal budget, they would try to provide further relief to the the labour class.

Calling upon the entrepreneurs and well-to-do class, the prime minister said that they should also think beyond their families and businesses and invest in certain education and health projects for the deprived classes like those established in the developed countries.

“It was not an objective behind the creation of Pakistan that there would be a difference between the rich and the poor. Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah led the massive movement in which the people had offered huge sacrifices. The motive was the establishment of a welfare state in which everyone would have the equal opportunities to excel in life on the basis of one’s capacity and ability and take the country forward,” the premier added.

PM Shehbaz reiterated that they were striving to end corruption and promised that all the organs of government and other state institutions, with their collective efforts, would carve a niche for Pakistan among the comity of nations.

He said that the labourers and workers worked hard in the most difficult conditions and helped their employers establish their businesses. Both were like the wheels of the same carriage and their work lead to progress and prosperity of the nation and country.

The prime minister said if the workers were deprived of their due rights, a country could not achieve progress. He opined that due to price hike and inflation, the life for the common man had become difficult.

The prices of petroleum products had been reduced but it could not be a substitute for the daily price hike as the labour class had to meet the requirements of education for their sons and daughters, treatment for their parents, and other daily expenditures and were living from hand to mouth, he observed.