Reforms put economy at take off stage: Shaukat

Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has said that institutional reforms and subsidy-free pricing mechanism have poised Pakistan well to face the globalised world''s challenges upfront and paid dividend to the people by increasing their per capita income.
He was addressing traders and industrialists at Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industries (LCCI) annual lunch here on Saturday. A good number of federal ministers, diplomats, presidents of chambers and senior officials attended the event.
The Prime Minister said the government''s agenda of institutional reforms, deregulation and privatisation had worked up to the expectations of policy makers to take Pakistan''s economy at take off stage.
He said that Pakistan''s GDP growth was highest, after China, last year and it helped increased per capita income to over $800. He asserted that independent international agencies had rated Pakistan as best for business doing, which would help Islamabad attract more foreign direct investment in the coming years.
Shaukat praised LCCI for its role in giving input to the government for policy making and budgetary work, and asked traders'' bigwigs to utilise their energies for research and development work to equip their fellow businessmen and industrialists well to meet the challenges of the new world and safeguard national interests by getting more share in the world market. He, in particular, acknowledged FPCCI and LCCI former chief Iftikhar Ali Malik''s services to traders and industrialists and asked him to use the chambers'' talent for research, development and data collection for upgradation of industrial base.
Shaukat noted that the economy would maintain its upward trend to pay even more dividends to the people in the coming years. He said the government was expecting GDP growth in the range of 6 to 8 percent for the next five years.
The Prime Minister said that international donors and other institutions had acknowledged Pakistan''s economic U-turn and revised upward its rating by including among top 10 countries, which showed fast economic growth during the last few years.
He termed the challenges of the globalised world as a big task and said that only the fittest would win the race against time and stay as a big player in international market. He said price-effective quality products would be key to success in the new regime, and the traders and industrialists should go hi-tech to get fit to meet the demand of the international market to give big boost to the country''s exports.
He said that Pakistan was going to hit $3 billion foreign direct investment (FDI) mark by June. The Prime Minister said that traders and industrialists should not think of subsidies on gas, electricity and other inputs and should go for other channels to make their business and industries profit-earning. He gave a clear message, saying that gone were the days when subsidies were considered the best way to cut down the cost of industrial products.
He said that the government had linked gas and electricity pricing system with international system to make this key sector an attraction to investors. He also ruled out any possibility of subsidy on oil prices, saying that the government did not believe in using magic wand to buy oil from international market at $60 and sell it to the people at $30 a barrel. Former LCCI president Misbahur Rehman and a few other trade leaders were given away awards on the occasion.