The Pakistan Government is working on a comprehensive plan to develop a Buddhist trail by exploring religious sites in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces to help the Islamic nation to attract Buddhists from across the globe, a senior official said Wednesday.
Zulfikar Bukhari, the new chairman of Pakistan Tourism Development Cooperation (PTDC), said the rich Buddhist heritage sites in Swabi, Swat of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Taxila in Punjab would be introduced to the world under the project to promote religious tourism.
"Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa areas have numerous Buddhist sites. Sacred places of other religions, including Sikhism and Hinduism, were also scattered all over the Pakistan and the PTDC was planning to provide facilities there to attract their followers not only from across the country but also from abroad," he told reporters.
He said that the Buddhist sites in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa would be developed first and then gradually move down to Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan where the ancient sites of various religions are located in a large numbers.
The PTDC head also hinted at engaging foreign Buddhism followers to attract their investment for preserving their cultural heritage.
Stating that tourism was contributing around 10 per cent to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) globally, Bukhari said that the situation was quite different in Pakistan where tourism was contributing only 2.9 percent to the national economy.
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He said the PTDC aimed at making tourism 10 per cent of the GDP which would help the industry to add over Rs 20 billion in the national treasury.
Pakistan has been the cradle of Buddhist art and culture since time immemorial.
Various areas in Pakistan like Taxila, Takht -i- Bhai, Mardan, Peshawar and Lahore are home to some of the rarest Buddhist relics.
The Gandhara civilisation flourished in the North Western region of Pakistan from the 6th century BC to the 5th century AD.