Lahore
The Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry has urged the government to ensure adequate representation of private sector in all important bodies whether it is the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA), Indus River System Authority (Irsa) or the exports promotion related divisions.
“Only public-private partnership can make a big breakthrough at the economic front. Therefore, the government should take business community onboard at all economic matters and ensure its representation in government departments”, the LCCI President Mian Nauman Kabir said in a statement.
LCCI President said that being the major stakeholder of the country, business community should have representation in the parliament and all important bodies but it is not anywhere and being used as a money making machine. He said that how policies conducive for trade and industry can be formulated without participation of the main stakeholder.
“Business community can be the most powerful economic force of the government but for this, present regime should take it on board and treat it as partner”, Nauman Kabir said.
He said that POL prices should not be an option to overcome the trade deficit or to bear the huge non-productive expenditure of the state. Likewise, the God-gifted resources like water should not be sacrificed to the political will of a few people. He said that OGRA raises the summary for increase in POL prices and generally the government accepts the proposals. He said that POL is the major raw material and unjustified raises in its prices have increased the cost of doing business. He said that this issue can be controlled if the business community has at least 50 per cent representation in OGRA.
Mian Nauman Kabir said that the due representation of the private sector in the public sector bodies will help promote knowledge-based economy, export promotion, increase in tax-to-GDP ratio besides overcoming inefficiency of Public-sector entities, brain-drain, shortage of skilled human resources and low industrial production etc.
