LAHOE: The government would have to shift its focus from non-productive sectors to the productive ones like bio technology which has immense potential to act as “fate-changer” as it is one of the best replacements of conventional energy resources.
In a statement issued here, the LCCI president Sheikh Muhammad Arshad said that entire world is looking for new solutions of their worries and using biotechnology in various sectors like agriculture, environment, health and industry. He said that there is enormous potential of biotechnology in Pakistan which needs to be explored through maximum allocations.
The LCCI president said that renewable and sustainable energy resources are the best substitute to the conventional fuels and energy sources as the business community understands that bio-fuels will reduce our dependence on petroleum to some degree and enhance energy security. Likewise it will also contribute in rural economic development.
Sheikh Muhammad Arshad said that the countries like USA, Brazil and China are leading consumers of ethanol. Many countries world over have gradually introduced Flexible-Fuel Vehicles (FFV) which engines are designed to run on more than one fuel. In Brazil, for instance, 70% of all new cars sold now are FFV.
He said that their sources of deriving ethanol are corn, sugarcane, soybeans, palm oil etc. Europe has also progressed remarkably in this connection by utilizing grain starch, sugar beets and rapeseeds etc. Further research and development has made it possible to use different kinds of wastes and herbs for bio fuel production.
He said that it is really unfortunate that no significant work has been done in Pakistan in this field. There is abundant availability of cultivable area in the shape of barren and waste land in our country. He said that government should encourage to utilize this land for growing jatropha plant at a wider scale. We can extract non edible oil from this herb to produce bio-diesel. This can be used in vehicles by way of mixing up to 10% with diesel.
The LCCI president said that it will certainly help to a great deal in bringing down the import of oil but also serve as an environment friendly source of energy.
The LCCI president stressed the need for highlighting the importance of bio-fuel at national level and also projects this area as a profitable sector for national and foreign investors.
He said that it is high time that public and private sector must come up and join hands in order to utilize the untapped potential of bio-fuel and especially government of Punjab should take initiative to utilize barren and waste land for bio-fuel production.
He urged the government to provide biogas plants to the rural community at subsidized rates to promote alternate energy resources.
He said that since more than 60 per cent of country’s exports belong to agriculture therefore biotechnology is of prime importance.
He said that the recent electricity shortage has badly affected the Agriculture and the industrial sectors and it is very unfortunate that the country is getting no benefit of its bio-fuel potential while by reportedly next year neighbouring India would be fulfilling 20 per cent of its total energy needs through biofuels.
He urged the government to take measures on war footing to promote biofuels that would not only help government to overcome the energy crisis but would also reduce the oil import bill.
Meanwhile, business friendly atmosphere and ease of doing business will highlight the image of Pakistan as an emerging economy therefore government should facilitate the business community to achieve the desired goals.
These views were expressed by the LCCI vice president Nasir Saeed while speaking at a sminar on “Ease of Doing Business in Pakistan” here at the Lahore chamber of Commerce & Industry on Tuesday. Secretary Board of Investment Azher Ali Chaudhry, Head of Prime Minister’s Delivery Unit Dr. Awais Siraj, LCCI Executive Committee Members Mian Abdul Razzaq, Mian Zahid Javed and Rizwan Akhter Shamsi also spoke on the occasion.
Nasir Saeed said that cost of doing business is one of the major hurdles hampering the growth of all sectors of economy whether it is manufacturing or agriculture. He said that Pakistani merchandise are best of the best in the world but fast losing their due place in the international market because of high input cost in Pakistan. He said that proposals would also be incorporated in the LCCI report on “Doing Business in Pakistan” as to how costs could be curtailed in Pakistan without any loss to the revenue.
