The Federal Minister for Commerce, Trade & Industry, Shahzada Alam Mannoo, has urged the business community to contribute actively in making the country an economic powerhouse. The Minister, along with 10 provincial ministers, was addressing members of Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry on Wednesday.
LCCI President Muhammad Ali, Senior Vice President Muzaffar Ali and Vice President Shafqat Saeed Piracha also spoke on the occasion. Mannoo said that the government was making all-out efforts to solve the business-related issues so that Pakistan could be known as safe haven for investment. He said that days were not very far when Pakistan, being a resource-rich country, would be standing tall among the comity of nations.
Referring to Benazir's assassination, he said that a few anti-social elements wanted to destabilise Pakistan, but the business community should utilise all energies to foil their designs.
The provincial ministers present included Minister for Local Government Asif Jan, Minister for Housing, Urban Development and Public Health, Minister for Labour and Human Resources Shahzad Azam Khan, Minister for Education Dr Mira Phailbus, Minister for Excise and Taxation Waleed Tariq Saigol, Minister for Irrigation Dilawar Abbas Syed, Minister for Livestock and Dairy Development Mumtaz Khan Manhais, Minister for Special Education Sohail Afzal and Minister for Human Rights Maqbool Elahi Malik eulogised the role of Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry for Economic Wellbeing of the country.
LCCI President appealed to the government to take immediate measures to cope with ongoing energy crisis which is deepening with every passing day. He said if the situation remains the same for some more time, it definitely would dent the whole economy.
He urged the ministers to take measures for expediting the process of construction of big water reservoirs and if it is beyond the purview of the caretaker setup, the Punjab cabinet should divert its attention towards small dams whose feasibility reports had already been finalised.
Punjab is one of the most modern industrial provinces of Pakistan and the cities like Lahore, Sialkot, Gujrat and Gujranwala are playing key role in the economy of Pakistan by generating a big amount of income and revenue for the national exchequer with their huge exports.
LCCI Senior Vice President and Vice President said the primary objective of the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry is to protect and promote the interests of the business community and it acts as a bridge between the government and the business community.
They said the Lahore Chamber is acting as an effective voice of business community in policy corridors and it also issues certificate of origin, visa recommendatory letters and these services help the business community save much of their valuable time.
They said the LCCI has two self-sustaining projects to its credit--Shalimar Hospital and LABARD. The Shalimar Hospital is providing modern health facilities to the common people while LABARD is not only acting as placement body for the disabled sections of the society but also provides relevant training to the young minds in an effort to rehabilitate them.