Elected LCCI office-bearers spell out priorities and plans

The newly elected office-bearers of Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) spelt out their priorities and plans for the coming year during the annual general meeting of the chamber held here on Thursday.
The election commissioner Sheikh Saleem Ali presided over the meeting that was also attended by the outgoing LCCI President Mohammad Ali Mian, former presidents Mian Tajjamal Hussain, Mian Mohammad Ashraf, Iftikhar Ali Malik, Mian Misbahur Rehman, PIAF Chairman Irfan Qaiser Sheikh, former Senior Vice President Sohail Lashari and former Vice Presidents Sheikh Mohammad Arshad and Mubasher Sheikh.
The newly elected president called for tightening of belt to wear off the intensity of ongoing economic crisis. He feared if the public and private sectors have not tightened the belts, it would result in bankruptcy. He said that tight monetary policy was not the only solution to fast increasing inflation but it could be tackled easily by increasing production and cutting unnecessary expenditures.
He said that for increasing production, the business community would have to spend its energies for increasing exports, particularly the export of non-traditional items needs to be focused. Senior Vice President Tahir Javed Malik said that high mark-up was crushing the whole industrial sector like anything and this would be taken up with all the concerned authorities for a solution. He said that simplification of taxes would also be on his priority list as existing 56 in number taxes were higher then anywhere in the world.
He said that the main objective of the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry was promotion of trade and industry and all available resources would be utilised for economic turnaround as the economic meltdown had now started taking its toll and everybody in suffering badly. The newly elected Vice President Irfan Iqbal Sheikh said that Research and Development was an area, which if was given proper attention could do miracles.
He said that he would, in collaboration with his fellow businessmen, work for the promotion of Research culture in Pakistan. He said that education sector was direly in need of reforms and he would leave no stone unturned to bring uniformity in education sector. He said that a number of parallel systems were in vogue in the country and until and unless a single system was implemented, we would not be able to achieve and taste progress and prosperity in real terms.
Irfan Iqbal Sheikh said that Lahore Chamber of Commerce would also raise its voice for construction of parking plazas in the city as almost all the city traffic related problems were because of non-availability of proper parking spaces. Earlier, speaking on the occasion, the outgoing President Mohammad Ali Mian presented a detailed report of his performance during the year.