LAHORE: The Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry (LCCI) Friday urged the government to develop a strategy for the growth of Public Sector Enterprises (PSEs).
In a statement issued here, the LCCI President Abdul Basit Senior Vice President Amjad Ali Jawa and Vice President Muhammad Nasir Hameed Khan said that there is a dire need to focus on loss-making Public Sector Enterprises which drain away a huge chunk of government resources each year and burden has to bear the taxpayers.
The LCCI office-bearers said that had these enterprises been providing revenue to the government and catering to the needs of the masses, this burden could have been defended but their well below the mark performance and service standards are so depressing and they have become troublemakers for the national economy.
They said that taxpayers are the end losers as these loss-making Public Sector Enterprises (PSEs) are being run through the duties and taxes paid by them. They said that keeping in view the massive loss of around Rs.600 billion annually being caused by the Public Sector Enterprises (PSEs), government should take measures on war footing to make these institutions profitable.
They said that in the advanced economies like the United States, United Kingdom and Japan etc, the role of PSEs is minimal and the private sector is the most important instrument of socio-economic prosperity, and there is continued growth of privately-run corporations.
They said that the significance of PSEs cannot be ignored, in view of the fact that they remain the most employment-intensive and capital-intensive organizations.
The LCCI office-bearers suggested formation of a committee of experts from public and private sectors to revisit strategy and adopt methods which provide a new impetus to the PSEs. They said that the committee should go deep into the broader political philosophy and vision under which the PSEs will be required to play their role in the new competitive environment.
They said that PSEs of Pakistan should continue to remain the backbone of the economy and therefore their revival is critical to our economic survival. They said that PSEs are the only industries that the nation can depend on to check further decline in our growth rate. They said that it is all the more necessary for the government to increase its efforts for revival of the PSEs. Greater autonomy and non interference in their functioning have to be guaranteed so that the country can fully reap full the benefits of PSEs. They said that PSEs are not only industries for short-term economic and commercial gains but are our national assets.
They said that new growth strategy for the loss-making public sector enterprises is need of the hour therefore government should start work without any delay.
