LAHORE: The Provincial Minister for Commerce Mian Aslam Iqbal hassaid that all regulations will be gathered and rectified under Punjab Smart Regulations Act that is going to be presented in the provincial assembly from 6 to 8 months and later to the federal cabinet.
He was speaking at the traders and industrialists in LCCI. He cited the example of South Korea where 50 percent regulations eliminated out of 12,000 and remaining amended. Likewise, he said Vietnam and Kenya done a lot regarding ease of doing business. He said that Prime Minister wants Pakistan’s EODB ranking within 100. He said that intervention of government departments in business affairs is also being reduced.
Mian Aslam Iqbal said that issues of clubbing the taxes in Punjab and inspection free regime have been discussed with the Prime Minister. Input will be taken first from the business community on inspection free regime than draft will be forwarded to the Federal Cabinet.
He said that new strategy is being introduced for Special Economic Zones. Government is considering establishing country-specific SEZs. He informed that three new schemes including New Startup of a business, loan mark-up and credit guarantee are also in the pipeline.
About Cottage industry, he said that 36 districts in Punjab have specialties for cottage industry. He said that cottage industry would be developed gradually in these districts.
He said that government has given timeframe for converting brick kilns to zigzag technology. Government also wants to develop this technology in the country.
Almas Hyder said that a special department should be developed to manage the cottage industry. Model of Thailand for cottage industry can help groom cottage industry.
He said that government’s initiative to seek feedback from all chambers on Punjab Smart Regulations Act from is a step in right direction.
He said that the Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry is working on ease of doing business since 2015. “We are targeting to bring the ranking of Pakistan to top 50 which require broad based changes in rules and regulations. We need to realize that we have to improve our ranking otherwise foreign buyers and investors will not take Pakistan into consideration”, the LCCI President added.
Khawaja Habib Ur Rehman President Khanewal Chamber, Fayyaz Sultani and Asad Aziz from Khanewal Chamber, Sheikh, Amir Noman President Gujrat Chmaber, Umar Farooq EC Member Gujrat Chmaber, Rashid Hamid from Sahiwal Chamber, President Asim Anees from Gujranwala Chamber, Malik Ghulam Murtaza President Chakwal Chamber, Mirza Fazal ur Rehman President Sargodha Chamber, Shireen Arshad Khan, Vice President FPCCI and Founder Bahawalpur Women Chamber, Sheikh Naveed Iqbal from Sialkot Chamber, Malik Shahid Saleem President Rawalpindi Chamber, M. Nadeem Khan President Jehlum Chamber, Naeem Hanif, Bao Bashir, Adeeb Iqbal Sheikh, Aqib Asif, M. Waseem Chawla, Haris Atiq, Sheikh Zafar Iqbal, M. Arshad, Dr. M. Arshad, Khalid Usman, Khan Executive Committee Member LCCI, Khawaja Khawer Rasheed Former Senior Vice President LCCI, Shahid Nazeer, Rehmatullah Javed, Mian M. Nawaz former EC members LCCI were present on the occasion.
