LAHORE: Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has welcomed the reforms introduced by Punjab government for ease of doing business and said that Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif deserved appreciation for taking another giant leap towards economic self-reliance by supporting the business sectors.
In a letter written to the Chief Minister, the LCCI President Malik Tahir Javaid said that construction permits, property registration and business registration related reforms would not only give breathing space to the industrial sector but would also improve Pakistan’s international ranking in ease of doing business, according to LCCI spokesman here Tuesday.
Malik Tahir Javaid said that at present, Pakistan was experiencing low ranking in ease of doing business but this great initiative of Shehbaz Sharif would help raise Pakistan’s competitiveness at global market place.
He said that standardization of by-laws of Metropolitan Corporation Lahore (MCL) and Lahore Development Authority (LDA); non-requirement of No Objection Certificate (NOC) from Environment Protection Agency (EPA) for non-hazardous projects; issuance of building permits for commercial warehouses in just 21 days by the MCL from e-Khidmat Centre at Town Hall and issuance of building permits for commercial warehouses in 14 days by LDA through One-Window Facility, would help industrial sector flourish while business registration related reforms would also give huge relief to the industrial sector.
He said that development of business registration portal for online registration of firms in just two days, integration of business registration portal with Punjab Employees Social Security Institution (PESSI), Lahore and Human Resource Department and Industries, Commerce and Investment Department would save time and money of the businessmen.
LCCI President said that Punjab was the largest and most important province as most of the export-oriented sectors were located here and playing an important role. He said that reforms for Punjab industry would certainly play a pivotal role in much-needed boost in exports.
Malik also suggested the federal government to also introduce such reforms as cost of doing business was one of the major hurdles hampering the growth of all sectors of economy. He said, Lahore Chamber was already doing a lot of work for ease of doing business and supplementing government efforts aimed at economic uplift of the country.
