Prime Minister Imran Khan says his vision is to make Pakistan a financially viable and economically self-reliant country, by getting rid of the dependency syndrome.

Addressing Pakistan Economic Forum in Islamabad today, the Prime Minister said wealth creation is necessary to take the country forward. He said a business friendly culture will be introduced in the country and businessmen will be encouraged to invest their capital in various sectors.

He said no country can progress if its presents its industrialists as criminals. He said making money is no sin, but using unfair means to make it or avoiding tax is.

Presenting the example of China, the Prime Minister said East Asian country lifted 700 million people out of poverty in three decades. He said we will learn from China's experience to alleviate poverty in the country.

Imran Khan said focus is being made to improve competitiveness of our products to grab major share of exports in world markets. He said incumbent government has introduced policies to facilitate export industry. The Prime Minister said money laundering and smuggling harm the country hard and steps are being taken to discourage these practices.

He said the tax policy and collection have been separated in order to create a favorable environment for businesses. He said Pakistan is an attractive destination for investment and in recent months many foreign firms have expressed keen interest to invest in various sectors of Pakistan.

The Prime Minister assured the business community that he will keep in touch with it on regular basis.