International Islamic University (IIU) Rector Justice Khalil-ur-Rehman Ramday has said that awareness about WTO is direly needed, and only sectors with sufficient command over WTO rules and regulations will excel. He was speaking at a one-day training programme on 'Emerging opportunities and challenges in sugar sector under WTO regime', organised by IIU in collaboration with the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock (Minfal) and the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI).
LCCI Vice-President Sh. Mohammad Arshad was guest of honour at the programme, and attended by a large number of people from the sugar industry, according to a press release here on Saturday.
The IIU rector urged participants to focus on enhancing the productivity and quality of products, saying that public and private sectors should join hands to evolve a sound strategy to meet WTO-related issues.
He also urged the government to heed the genuine problems of the sugar industry.
He said that during his recent visit to China, the head of the Yinchuan Chamber expressed the desire to meet LCCI leaders so both could gain from each other's experiences for the promotion of trade and industry.
Speaking on the occasion, the LCCI VP assured that the Chamber would extend all co-operation to the Islamic University in its efforts to educate people about WTO and other challenges.
Minfal WTO Wing chief Sohail Mohammad stressed the need for establishing research cells in universities and all chambers of the country, saying at present, about 1,000 institutions are doing research work on WTO.
Senior consultant/director (marketing), co-ordinator, WTO programs, International Management Development Centre, also gave a detailed briefing to the participants.
Later, Justice Ramday as chief guest awarded certificates to participants of the training programme.