PM appeals business community to support govt's energy conservation plan.

ISLAMABAD -- Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday appealed business community to support the government's recently announced energy conservation plan marking the early closure of markets and restaurants, to ensure judicious use of national resources and reduce the import bill.

'I appeal to the business community to extend their support to the government (for energy conservation). This will reduce the oil import and bring down the dollar rate which would later be spent on country's progress including agriculture and medicine,' the prime minister said addressing a ceremony for the establishment of Hazara Electric Company here.

Covering a total area of over 16,774 square kilometers, the new company would cater to the needs of around 726,000 consumers across Haripur, Mansehra, Abbottabad, Battagram, Torgarh, Kohistan Upper, Kohistan Lower and Kolai Plus.

The prime minister said any difficulty faced by a nation necessitated collective action and expressed the hope that the traders from across the country would take part in this 'jihad' to save the national resources.

Referring to his telephonic interaction with IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva on Thursday, the prime minister assured that, unlike its predecessor, the incumbent government would abide by its commitments with IMF without further burdening the masses.

However, he also sensitized the IMF head over the country's economic condition adversely affected by the worst floods and made it clear his government had already taxed the rich but could no more burden the poor. The IMF chief assured that their team would visit Pakistan for a review within two to three days, the prime minister added.

Speaking highly for the Pak-China fraternal relations, the prime minister said in his meeting, the Chinese Premier Li Keqiang had also urged the IMF chief to support Pakistan considering the tough circumstances.

He also apprised the gathering of his 45-minute-long telephonic conversation with Chinese Premier on Thursday in which the latter assured him not to leave Pakistan alone, which the prime minister said evidenced the improvement of bilateral relations strained by the poor foreign policy of the previous government.

The prime minister criticized the previous government for undermining Pakistan's relations with friendly countries including China, Saudi Arabia and the UAE because the ex-prime minister Imran Khan utilized most of his energies for political victimization and blaming the...