Press Release

LCCI pins hopes on New Cabinet

The Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry has hoped that the new Federal Cabinet would play an instrumental role to pull the country out of the economic crisis.

In a statement, LCCI President Mian Nauman Kabir, Senior Vice President Mian Rehman Aziz Chan and Vice President Haris Ateeq said that the country is passing through a critical time and needs a strong and diverse cabinet to deliver and keep Pakistan moving forward on the economic front.  They said that Miftah Ismail, Rana Sanaullah, Mariam Aurengzeb, Khawaja Muhammad Asif, Ahsan Iqbal, Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, Rana Tanveer Hussain, Khurrum Dastagir Khan, Khawaja Saad Rafique, Mian Javed Latif, Mian Riaz Hussain Pirzada, Murtaza Javed Abbasi, Azam Nazeer Tarar, Syed Khursheed Ahmed Shah, Syed Naveed Qamar, Sherry Rehman, Abdul Qadir Patel, Shazia Marri, Syed Murtaza Mahmud, Sajid Hussain Turi, Ehsan ur Rehman Mazari, Abid Hussain Bhayo, Asad Mahmood, Abdul Wasay, Mufti Abdul Shakoor, Muhammad Talha Mahmood, Syed Amin-ul-Haque, Syed Faisal Ali Subzwari, Muhammad Israr Tareen, Nawabzada Shazain Bugti, Tariq Basheer Cheema, Dr. Aisha Ghaus Pasha, Abdul Rehman Khan Kanju, Hina Rabbani Khar and other team members have vast experience and have the abilities to play an important role for economic uplift of the country.

The LCCI office-bearers said that economic growth can speed up provided a business friendly atmosphere is ensured for the business community.

They said that exports have a paramount importance in Pakistan’s economy as they are the main source of revenue generation and employment creation. They said that exports are also important for maintaining the balance of payment stability for our country.  They said that however, the export performance of Pakistan as compared to other regional economies has been appalling in the last few decades. They said that the inability of Pakistan exports to tap some of the most dynamic world markets along with high concentration in a few products and low technological level meant that Pakistan’s growth rate of exports remained stifled and considerably below that of other economies.

 While calling for an easy and friendly taxation system, the LCCI office-bearers said that there should be electronic communication between taxpayers and tax departments.

They suggested that the government should take steps to control smuggling at the borders and Frontier core deployed there should be equipped with state of the art technology and made them more vigilant and to advise them to play their role in controlling the smuggling by exercising their authority under customs Act. They suggested that the duties on such goods which are prone to smuggling should be reduced as it has been practiced successfully in many other countries. They also called for reduction in duties and taxes on raw materials.

They said that all export-oriented sectors, including Halal food sector, should be given zero rated facility as the country has a little share in the international Halal food trade of trillions of dollars.

They said that the energy mix of the country is very expensive due to the lack of hydel power generation. This results in tariff hikes and makes the industry uncompetitive in the international market.

They said that despite being an agrarian country, Pakistan is importing fruits, vegetables and other agri products on a large scale that is a matter of concern. They said that this particular sector should be focused and issues should be resolved at the earliest.