Industry unveils National Economic Agenda 2010-30

LAHORE: The Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) on Wednesday unveiled the National Economic Agenda 2010-30 that has been evolved in consultation with almost all the political parties of the country.

Giving a detailed briefing on the economic agenda, LCCI President Zafar Iqbal Chaudhry said that the very objective was to keep economic policies independent of politics.

He said that since the inception of Pakistan, each new government has come up with its own economic vision but even before work could actually be carried out, another government took the place of the previous one and the whole process started again.

“Due to inconsistency in economic policies, today the country is facing multiple internal and external challenges,” he added.

Chaudhry said that almost all the areas of economy including agriculture have been discussed in detail in the economic agenda. It is suggested that the agriculture sector must be upgraded to a processing and semi-processing industry.

“Value addition for our agricultural produce should go beyond dependence on cotton and textile,” he stated.

Cooked and semi-cooked food should become the main engine of growth. Governance for providing security to the economic zones must run high on the agenda of the state, he said.

“Our potential for strategic location has been undermined by disturbances in Balochistan and border areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,” he said, adding that it has badly affected Gwadar’s potential to serve as the trade gateway from Central Asia to Southeast Asia and South Africa.

“The state must avoid all foreign influences in running its economic and political policies. Only then we will be able to enforce this agenda of growth,” he said.

The National Economic Agenda 2010-30, he said, had been designed in a way that it would ensure self-reliance on the one hand while helping the country get rid of loans and aids on the other.

Former adviser on finance Dr Salman Shah said that Pakistan could be the workshop of the world provided its workforce is properly trained. He said that the country could get rid of the IMF and World Bank by building water reservoirs including Bhasha and Kalabagh dams.

He said that $3 billion could be saved only through the completion of Kalabagh Dam and up to 40 per cent of oil import bill could be curtailed if this project is given the go-ahead by reaching consensus among political parties.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 24^th, 2010.