Fearing investment rollback, LCCI opposes EDB's closure

Says the move will 'derail progress of the engineering industry'

LAHORE: The Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has voiced concern over a decision to close the Engineering Development Board (EDB), which works under the Ministry of Industries and Production with the aim of strengthening the engineering base of Pakistan.

In a statement, LCCI Acting President Amjad Ali Jawa and Vice President Muhammad Nasir Hameed Khan suggested that the government should shelve the idea for the sake of engineering sector of the country.

They argued that the decision may have been taken without taking the stakeholders on board, adding the EDB was playing a fundamental role in promoting the engineering sector.

They emphasised that the EDB was established to oversee developments in multiple fields related to the engineering sector and an important area where the EDB had contributed the most was the automobile sector. It also oversaw implementation of the auto policy based on pre-defined policy guidelines.

The EDB, according to the LCCI office-bearers, supported the auto vendor industry by handling various Statutory Regulatory Orders and ensured an increase in local components in auto manufacturing based on government's policy guidelines.

They were of the view that the closure and shifting of EDB's responsibility would derail the engineering industry, especially the auto sector, which would lead to inefficiency and lack of expertise.

This "will further complicate the situation, besides hampering investments in the auto sector, especially the vendor industry."

They recommended that the proposal of disbanding the EDB should be taken back and to make improvement, a professional chief executive officer should be appointed to run the engineering board, based on his capability to handle such an organisation.

"Closure of an institution is not a solution to the problem, therefore, the government should take corrective measures to plug loopholes," they argued.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 24^th, 2017.

Like Business on Facebook, follow @TribuneBiz on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.