LAHORE: The Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has urged the government to give special incentives to the cottage industry in the Federal Budget 2016-17 and announce establishment of cottage city as the cottage industry is backbone of the manufacturing sector.
While talking to the head of 100-member delegation of cottage industry Ghulam Sarwar Malik, LCCI President Sheikh Muhammad Arshad said that the cottage industry was not only a building block of economy but was also of utmost importance for alleviation of poverty and unemployment.
Sheikh Muhammad Arshad said that the economic revival of the country would remain a dream until and unless the government redesigns its policies and divert resources towards cottage industry. He said that early establishment of a well equipped cottage city on the pattern of industrial zones in the country should be made part of the economic agenda of the government.
The LCCI President cited the example of Bangladesh, China, Korea and United States where an equal importance is being given to the small business. He said that these countries are treated at par with Large Scale Manufacturing sector. He said that despite having all the resources, the economic downturn being witnessed by the country is an eye-opener for the people sitting at the helm of the affairs.
The LCCI would also have meeting with the top officials of the government departments so that exporters of cottage industry products could get maximum facilitation.
He called for a two-pronged strategy to cope with economic meltdown. He suggested to the government to evolve short-term sector-specific policies to break the economic logjam as it has proved that the longer term policies generally fall prey to political uncertainties.
Secondly, he said that government should expedite process of consultation with private sector as the business community is the real stakeholders and no policy should be announced without due consultation with the businessmen.
He said that the cottage and small-scale industries are labor intensive and provide employment to more than 80 per cent of the industrial labour force. This reduces the unemployment and offers opportunities for self-employment. He said that cottage industry also meets the local demands for industrial goods, and save foreign exchange.
Ghulam Sarwar Malik sought the help of LCCI for the revival of cottage industry. He said that some well-equipped space must be allocated by the government for the cottage industry so that the people attached with cottage industry could be able to do their businesses with peace of mind.
He said that the Lahore Chamber should play its role to curb the menace of smuggling that is hitting the cottage industry hard. He said that the State Bank of Pakistan should be directed to give interest free loans to the cottage industry.
