Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said that vibrant role of traders and industrialists bodies could help the government in policy making, besides helping business community face today's challenges upfront. He wanted the traders and industrialists focus on research and development in all sectors of economy to get more shares in the WTO regime.
He was talking to a delegation of traders and industrialists. Shaukat Aziz said that only fittest would survive in WTO regime when quality and surplus production would be the only two factors for any country to get benefits from the new rules of the game.
He said traders and industrialists hold key to Pakistan's economic progress and they should rise to the occasion to play their role in today's challenging world. The prime minister said the government accorded top priority to the traders and industrialists inputs in policy making and for the same reason its interaction with business community was extremely good.
Shaukat Aziz was also briefed on Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) 2006-08 elections by the traders' delegation. The prime minister had visited Lahore on Wednesday and held a number of meetings. A delegation of the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industries (LCCI) also called on the prime minister to apprise him about issues relating to trade and industries.
The delegation including president Shaikh Shahid and other newly elected office-bearers, Businessmen Panel co-chairman, Iftikhar Ali Malik, Mian Misbahur Rehman, Mian Anjum Nisar, Mian Shafqat Mahmud and Mian M Ali, briefed the prime minister about the LCCI functioning and issues of traders.
On the issue of FPCCI elections, Mian Misbahur Rehman told the prime minister that the FPCCI would have new office-bearers before the end of the current calendar year.