LCCI's Economic Outlook cautions: government urged not to be complacent on low petroleum rates

The Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) in its 'Economic Outlook' has cautioned the government to be aware of erratic global economic recovery advising it not to be complacent on low petroleum rates that could rebound.
The LCCI has advised the government to remain focused on power and energy issues by giving priority to recoveries from private and public sectors and reducing line losses to acceptable level within 30 to 90 days. In the medium term, the government should improve the energy mix by going for low cost generation fuels to replace expensive furnace oil. The long-term hydro electric projects should be initiated immediately which would be functional in 10 to 15 years. Moreover, all alternate power generation resources available in the country should be exploited by giving incentives to the private sector, the LCCI said.
Through its "Economic Outlook", the Lahore Chamber also appealed the government to exploit the available coal potential of the country that has been given a lip service in last two decades. The LCCI's Economic Outlook has highlighted the importance of efficient railways not only for transportation of coal but also for exploiting the actual potential of trade corridor. It linked success of the trade corridor to the development of Gwadar port in most modern lines.
It has revealed that 68 percent of the trade that members of Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC) conduct with each other in petroleum products. It urged the OIC to facilitate the non-petroleum products trade between the member countries instead of importing the same products from non-member. The case of remarkable turnaround in Malaysian economy was discussed in detail that should guide our economic planners to formulate prudent policies.
The LCCI President Ijaz A Mumtaz said that very objective of the LCCI is to give a helping hand to the government for economic uplift of the country. He said that Pakistan was a land of opportunities. It has no dearth of talent. More than half of its population is below the age of 25, he said, adding: Its available workforce is around 85 million. The country has all the four weather season with huge tracts of fertile land. Coal reserves among top five in the world the worth of these reserves in international market goes into trillions of dollars. The copper reserves declared by the state amount to more than a trillion dollars in international markets. The gold and precious stones available in the region has tremendous potential amounting to 700 billion dollars. Its dairy sector production is fifth in the world ranking. Its tourism sector has a huge potential under explored due to law and order situation, Mumtaz said.
The LCCI President said that almost all the areas of economy including agriculture sector would be thoroughly discussed in the LCCI "Economic Outlook" in its upcoming issue. He said that that the agriculture sector must now be upgraded into process and semi-process industry. The value addition for our agricultural produce should go beyond the dependence on cotton textile. Cooked and semi-cooked food should become the main engine of growth. The issue of governance for providing security to the economic zones must run high on the agenda of the state, he added.
Ijaz A Mumtaz said that our potential for strategic location has been undermined by disturbances in Balochistan and border areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It has badly affected Gwadar's potential to serve as the trade gateway from Central Asia to Asean and South African territory. He said that Pakistani could get rid of the IMF and the World Bank by building water reservoirs including Bhasha and Kalabagh dams. He said that $3 billion could be saved only through the completion of Kalabagh Dam and up to 40 percent of oil import bill could be curtailed if this project is given go ahead by building political consensus.