Pakistan can turn into world's mini-factory: CM aide

Says Punjab has critical role to play in economic activities

LAHORE: Adviser to Punjab Chief Minister on Economic Affairs and Planning Dr Salman Shah has said that Pakistan has all the resources to become a mini-factory of the world and Punjab, being a hub of economic activities, has a crucial role to play.

Speaking at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) on Friday, the adviser said Punjab was a powerhouse with enormous resources such as its people, the youth and the great ecosystem of rivers.

"Then there is the phenomenon of urbanisation and the cities achieving scale as lots of young people are migrating from the rural economy to the urban economy," he said.

He cited productivity and competitiveness as the areas that could help make a breakthrough and said the focus of the Punjab government was on improving institutions and introducing good governance and technology to leverage the resources.

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In order to become an economic power, "we need not confine ourselves to just one or two products but can target a whole range of global markets by developing and leveraging the existing manufacturing clusters across Punjab," he said.

However, he emphasised that reforms were critical for harnessing the resources in the province.

"Our approach has been to bring down the cost through deregulation, reduce the regulatory burden and eliminate hurdles in the way of investment while going for efficiency and productivity improvements so that the agriculture sector can have much higher value-addition levels," he said.

"What this requires is streamlining and market reforms, reducing the transaction cost in the market, which includes simplifying procedures and regulatory systems."

The adviser underlined the need for introducing regulatory and institutional reforms in different markets such as commodity, wholesale, retail, housing and labour markets as many of these were regulated through archaic rules.

"We at least need coordinated action for agriculture and rural economy, services economy, manufacturing, mining sector, urbanisation and human resource development," stressed Shah, who also spoke about the Punjab Business Plan.

Speaking on the occasion, LCCI President Irfan Iqbal Sheikh said the Lahore Chamber had been working extensively with the Lahore Development Authority (LDA) since 2015 for industrial zoning in the Lahore Division and for the regularisation of existing industrial units.

He called the re-zoning of the Lahore Division an urgent requirement of the industry in a bid to facilitate future expansion and encourage local entrepreneurs to invest in Greenfield and other projects.

The Lahore Chamber has also proposed that all existing industrial units should be regularised without any penalty. Furthermore, he said, the government should demarcate industrial and economic zones and immediately set up Special Economic Zones on suitable sites.

A summary sent by the LDA director general was approved, in principle, by the then chief minister, who agreed with the LCCI's proposals for legalising the existing industries and also permitted them to expand their units if they owned the adjoining land.

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However, a notification in this regard has not been issued to date.

He called on the government to provide infrastructure in the existing and new industrial estates, including a dedicated power supply, waste disposal, combined effluent treatment plants, testing labs and one-window facility for registration, utilities and permissions.

The LCCI chief suggested that the government should also establish Cottage Business Residential Parks on the model of Vietnam, South Korea, China and Taiwan.

"This model comprises double-storey buildings with the first floor marked for residences and ground floor reserved for business, and will reduce the requirement for additional business investment by cottage entrepreneurs and will also allow women workforce to contribute to industrial growth."

Published in The Express Tribune, December 14^th, 2019.

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