During a meeting with Badal at the Chief Minister's residence this evening, Mahdi appreciated the hardworking and adventurous character for which Punjabis are renowned across the globe, an official release said here.
Badal apprised the visiting envoy that Punjab's economy was mostly agrarian. One could easily judge the perseverance of Punjabis given that the state has less than 2 per cent of the entire land of the country, yet it was a major contributor of food grains to the national kitty with its 42 per cent share of rice and 50 per cent of wheat.
Badal said that the government had successfully created a congenial atmosphere for the development of the industrial sector, besides giving good governance and has effectively achieved higher economic growth for improving the fiscal situation of the state.
The ambassador was apprised that the government had also initiated the process to establish new power generation plants to overcome acute shortage and these efforts would make Punjab a power surplus state by the next two years, it said.
There was scope to further expand economic and business ties in wide range of fields like information technology, marketing of petroleum products, agriculture produce, sharing of educational tools, engineering technologies, which could be of immense mutual benefit for both the sides.
On the occasion, the Chief Minister honoured Mehdi by presenting him with a sword and a plaque.
Secretary PWD (B&R), P S Aujla, and Special Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister, Gaggandip Singh Brar, were also present at the meeting.
