Karakoram KK festival starts at LCCI building organized by the Social, Economic and Environmental Development (SEED)

LAHORE (Online): Three-day Karakoram Festival started here on Friday at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry to showcase diverse cultural, heritage and tourism attractions of the Northern Areas of Pakistan.
The festival, organized by the Social, Economic and Environmental Development (SEED) project under the framework of Pakistan-Italy Debt Swap Agreement (PIDSA) in collaboration with the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Tourism Development Corporation Punjab, was jointly inaugurated by Provincial Minister for Industries Chaudhry Muhammad Shafiq and LCCI President Engineer Sohail Lashari.
LCCI Vice President Kashif Anwar, Country Operations Manager and Director SEED project Raffele Del Cima, Festival Director Munir Ahamd, Vice Chancellor Karakorum University Najma Najm also spoke on the occasion.
The festival highlights include a photo exhibition of the researcher and scientist Filippo De Filippi (1913-1914), exhibition of flora and fauna of the Central Karakorum National park, International Mountain Film festival and a conference to mainstream the natural resources, climatically, geologically and ecologically. Stalls of Gemstones, Woodcraft, agricultural products, tourism monuments, climbing wall, food court and live music from the mountains were a great attraction.

Addressing the participants of the conference, the Provincial Minister for Industries Chaudhry Muhammad Shafiq said that the Punjab government was giving a special focus towards the upgradation of tourism sites and for the promotion of tourism related activities. He said that all the segments of the economy were being given equal importance therefore a comprehensive strategy has been adopted to promote tourism.
The Minister said that since the law and order situation was improving therefore the flow of international tourists would also get a considerable momentum in coming months. He said that Pakistan is one of the few countries in the world that have great tourist destinations. He appreciated the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry for collaborating with the SEED to organize three-day festival to bring to the limelight the potential of Gilgit-Baltistan.
The LCCI President Engineer Sohail Lashari in his address said that lack of proper infrastructure was hitting hard some of the finest tourists sites therefore the government would have to divert its attention towards these areas.
He said that in today\’s world when all types of technology is available, there must not be any problems for international tourists to get easy access to all areas. He said that Gilgit-Baltistan has huge potential but it could not be tapped so far only because of unavailability of good road network.

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