The Punjab government is trying to exploit its huge industrial and agriculture potential to steer the country out of present economic crisis in a professional way and the days are not very far when the people will witness revolution in industrial and agriculture sectors.
This was observed by Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) President Mohammad Ali Mian while talking to a delegation of Lahore Township Industrial Association (LTIA), led by its Chairman Amjad Ali Jawa, who called on him here on Tuesday.
He told the delegation that Chief Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif was focusing on agriculture and industrial sectors with a team of highly professional people and through co-ordinated planning that was bound to yield results in both the areas that had been suffering for the last many years.
He said that this was for the first time that a provincial government was working on the agriculture sector with such a dedication and sparing no efforts to increase per acre yield.
The agriculture was the largest sector, contributing about 22 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) and employed around 45 per cent of labour force, while more than 70 percent of the cropped area of the Indus River basin was situated in Punjab, he said, and added that a little attention by the government could do the miracles. He said that the province had no dearth of resources in the shape of fertile land, water and livestock, but were going waste only for want of good governance.
About the worsening law and order situation in the country that has eroded the confidence of the business community, the LCCI President said that the provincial government was in touch with all the stakeholders so that they could be able to continue their respective businesses with peace of mind. Mian said that Punjab was the most industrialised province of the country.
The Punjab manufacturing industries produced textiles, sports goods, machinery, electrical appliances, surgical instruments, metals, bicycles and rickshaws, floor coverings, and processed foods, but the high cost of doing business, exorbitant mark-up rates and law and order situation were pushing it to the wall.