LAHORE: The Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry urged the government to take trade and industry related all decision in consultation with the stakeholders to overcome the economic challenges.
While talking to a delegation of traders, the LCCI president Sheikh Muhammad Arshad, senior vice president Almas Hyder and vice president Nasir Saeed said that it would also help much needed confidence building between government and private sector.
They said that the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry had already started spade work to this regard to identify the challenges being faced by the trade and industry.
The LCCI president Sheikh Muhammad Arshad said that trade and Industry is the backbone of the economy as the government generates more than 90 per cent of its total resources from this sector therefore it can make a great contribution in turning Pakistan into one of the greatest nations in the world provided due facilitation and an enabling business atmosphere are ensured.
He said that lowest tax-to-GDP ratio and inefficiency of Public Sector Entities are the reasons of sharp economic decline. He stressed the need for strengthening of institutional framework for being a prerequisite to economic stability, progress and prosperity.
He said that only strong institutions could guarantee good governance but unfortunately never-ever in the past due attention was given towards strengthening of institutions. He said that weak institutions always weak system and no country can achieve its targets with a weak institutional framework.
The LCCI president said that the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry acts as a bridge between the government and the business community. It has always tried to ensure a business-friendly environment through sharing views with the government and by taking all the stakeholders onboard on all the economy related issues. The primary objective of LCCI is to protect the interests of the business community while remaining committed to the cause of development of the country.
The LCCI senior vice president Almas Hyder said that there are a number of issues that must be tackled on priority, the biggest one is how to keep the momentum of growth in the wake of a less than targeted growth of the Agriculture and the Manufacturing sector. The second one is the widening gap between exports and imports that could be contained by reducing import of luxury items.
He said that rising input cost is making Pakistani products uncompetitive in the international market and Pakistan is losing the international markets to China, India and even Bangladesh.
The LCCI vice president Nasir Saeed stressed the need for developing regional, product specific and target oriented marketing strategy. New markets and new products need to be explored to reduce country’s dependence on few commodities and countries. Pakistan’s exports are highly concentrated in few items. Such concentration in few markets can also become a source for instability in export earnings. He said that Trade Development Authority should be revamped and private sector representation should be there so that the exports could be increased.
