LAHORE: The Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry has slammed the closure of Engineering Development Board and demanded of the government to restore this important entity in the larger interests of the industrial sector.
The LCCI President Malik Tahir Javaid said that Engineering Development Board is essential for the industry. The Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry was demanding its revival since long but government decided against the will of the stakeholders. Business community is unable to understand that for whom government has taken this decision.
He said that government has taken this decision without taking the stakeholders on board. He said that Engineering Development Board was playing a fundamental role in promotion of engineering sector and its closure would worsen the things.
“EDB was established to oversee multiple areas related to the engineering sector. An important area where EDB has contributed the most is the Automobile Sector. It oversees the implementation of the Auto Policy, based on predefined policy document guidelines”, Malik Tahir Javaid said and added that it supports the vendor industry by handling various SRO’s, by assuring local content enhancement and curtailment of rollback, based on the government’s policy guidelines.
The LCCI Vice President Zeshan Khalil said that closure of EDB, will derail the engineering industry, specially the auto sector, will lead to inefficiency in the government, and lack of expertise would further complicate the situation, leading to stoppage of investments in Auto Sector, especially the Vending Sector. He recommended that decision to close down EDB should be taken back immediately as it would give a bad message to the foreign investors. He said that closure of an important institution is not a solution to the problems. Government should take corrective to overcome the loopholes.
