LAHORE: Investment scenario in Punjab province is improving fast as large number of foreign investors have very recently signed agreements with provincial government for putting money in many new ventures.
Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) President Malik Tahir Javaid said that it was not the foreign investment alone that was surging but the local businessmen were also showing great confidence in the policies of provincial government.
Malik mentioned that Punjab was the most industrialized province; it produced textiles, sports goods, heavy machinery, electrical appliances, surgical instruments, cement, vehicles, auto parts, IT, metals, sugar mill plants, cement plants, agriculture machinery, bicycles and rickshaws, floor coverings, and processed foods.
The province had more than 68,000 industrial units which included 39,033 small and cottage industrial units, 14,820 textile units, 6,778 ginning industries, and 7,355 units for processing of agricultural raw materials including food and feed industries, he added.
To a question, he answered “Today, the energy situation in Punjab is not as bad what we were used to face in yester years and we are quite optimistic that in coming years power outages will become a story of the past as work on many new power generation projects is well on way.”
LCCI President also expressed his satisfaction over the governance level in the province when is compared with other provinces, as an effective monitoring mechanism had been put in place by the Chief Minister Punjab Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif.
He, however, added that prudent economic policy decisions were always essential to any sustainable solution to the challenges being faced by the country.
Talking about the issues being faced by the trade and industry, he said that taxation issues were impacting the competitiveness of Pakistani merchandise both in local and foreign markets.
Lahore Chamber President urged on elimination of withholding tax on banking transaction, regulatory duty on 43 items, and also urged the government to withdraw sections 38 and 40-B, misuse of discretionary powers by the FBR staff and bank account attachment as these hurdles were not only keeping new taxpayers away from the tax net but also discouraging the existing taxpayers.
He also stressed the need for exploration new markets to jack-up export volume. Due focus should also be given to non-traditional items for which Pakistan had sufficient expertise and potential as well. Potential markets included China, Turkey, Central Asian States and African countries, and the fact that these locations were invariably in the developing world means that these markets would show healthy growth when developed markets began contraction was a major asset in the future.
Malik Tahir Javaid was of the view that if Pakistani businessmen could cope with Chinese products so there was nothing to worry about India but definitely we need to put our house in order.
“We must be very strong internally because one’s weaknesses expose him to many threats. Bad law and order situation not only hurts local investments but also keeps the foreign investors away. In my opinion it always turns a country into a trading place instead of a manufacturing hub.”
About sit-in and protests by opposition political parties, Malik said that Pakistan’s economy could not afford such activities hampering businesses, trade and industrial growth.
He cited political stability was the key factors for economic growth and economic development was not possible without political stability and conducive environment for businesses.
He urged the leadership of all the protesting political parties to join hands for strengthening the economy instead of creating chaos through protests and sit-in (dharnas).
LCCI President said that anti-Pakistan elements were busy in conspiracies against China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and it was need of the hour that politicians and business leadership should act as defence force for the country.
He was of the view that Pakistan, at this point in time, was in dire need of stability in policy making and strong institutions and to achieve the very objective, both the politicians and the business leaders would have to join their heads for finding out a common economic agenda.
Responding to another query, Malik Tahir Javaid said that exchange of business delegation among countries, sharing of valuable information related to trade, business and investment and ease of visa processing were his action plan for boosting Pakistan’s trade relations with other countries.
He also called for product diversification saying that most of the trade between the two countries was confined to a few sectors, therefore, other sectors should also be focused for trade.