President Sialkot Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) Sheikh Abdul Waheed Sandal has said that local exporters were fully committed to achieve the export target set by the government.
Talking to Business Recorder here on Saturday he added that if government extend support and full backing, the exporter community would surpass the target. Without the support of government, industrial growth and economic progress is never possible for which he said that government must make determined efforts for weeding out the all obstacles and irritants in the way of business and provide necessary technical and financial support.
President SCCI said that commerce and trade activities in the city were growing at a stable pace and there is great prospective of rapid growth through investment in several potential sectors. With more foreign and local investment, boom in the business and trade could be expected and in this regard government's help in more direct foreign investment in Sialkot is sought. Waheed Sandal said that in order to cope with growing business activities in this export-oriented city "Sialkot Business and Commerce Centre" was being constructed at a cost of Rs 140 million, to showcase the Sialkot made products under one roof so that the visiting foreigner, diplomats and government officers may have a glimpse of the products.
The SCCI president said that we had planned this project to be a model in the public-private partnership adding that Sialkot Business and Commerce Centre project started but unfortunately shortage of funds was hindering the project. He seeks government support and co-operation for providing long-term interest-free loan for the completion the project of Sialkot Business and Commerce Centre in public-private partnership.
He said that in order to fulfil requirements and standards of foreign buyers, CE marking had become vital requirement for exporting products to the European Union. The SCCI president called upon the Punjab government to expedite the process of acquiring land for the testing laboratory adding that the business community of Sialkot was grateful to Punjab government for allocation of four million dollars for setting up international accredited laboratory in Sialkot.
The current route of Sialkot-Lahore Motorway on western side of Daska, near village Ranjhai is not suitable for the inhabitants of Sialkot he said. He suggested the realignment of the motorway on the Eastern side of Daska to pass through near village Jaisarwala and MR link canal that would benefit people of Sialkot, Pasrur and Daska evenly. He was of the opinion that with the establishment of projects of Engineering University Sialkot, Sialkot Business and Commerce Centre and Testing Laboratory, vertical export growth would become a reality and the export target of two billion dollars annually would be achieved in next few years.
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