The economic revival will remain a dream until a special package is announced in the upcoming budget for the cottage industry. The Pakistan Industrial and Traders Association Front (PIAF) Chairman Sohail Lashari expressed these views while speaking at a reception hosted by the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) Executive Committee member and Chairman Cottage Industry and Small Traders Ghulam Sarwar Malik on Tuesday.
LCCI Senior Vice President Sheikh Mohammad Arshad, Vice Chairmen PIAF Nadir Kamal Osman, Junaid Iqbal Sheikh, former LCCI Presidents Mian Shafqat Ali and Mohammad Ali Mian also spoke on the occasion.
Lashari said there is no second opinion that acute shortage of electricity, fast rising unemployment graph, deteriorating law and order situation and day to day increase in the prices of petroleum products have necessitated resetting priorities of the government but some relief to the small businesses is also dire need of the hour.
He cited the example of China, Korea and United States where an equal importance is being given to the small business. They are treated at par with Large Scale Manufacturing sector and said that despite having all the resources, the economic downturn being witnessed by the country is an eye-opener for the people sitting at the helm of the affairs.
LCCI Senior Vice President Sheikh Mohammad Arshad called for a three pronged strategy to cope with economic meltdown. He suggested to the government to evolve short-term sector-specific policies to break the economic logjam, as it has proved that the longer-term policies generally fall prey to political uncertainties.
Secondly, he said that the government should avail the option of importing electricity from Iran or any other country to ensure some relief to both the traders and industrialists as a number of industrial units had already shifted their operations to Bangladesh.
Thirdly, the LCCI Senior Vice President said that government should expedite process of consultation with private sector, as the business community is the real stakeholders and no policy should be announced without due consultation with the businessmen.
Speaking on the occasion, the LCCI Executive Committee member Ghulam Sarwar Malik sought the help of LCCI for the revival of cottage industry. He said that some well-equipped space in and around Lahore must be allocated by the government for the cottage industry, so that the people attached with cottage industry could be able to do their businesses with peace of mind.