Says “no country can become great without a manufacturing base and industrial growth”
LAHORE
Prime Minister Imran Khan has unveiled an incentives package for promotion of the industrial sector with focus on attracting investment from the local and overseas business community.
Announcing the industrial package at a ceremony on Tuesday, the prime minister said that the package will provide incentives for investment in the small and medium sector, and information technology, besides helping revive the sick industries.
The prime minister said the new industrial package will also help strengthen the country’s export-oriented industrial and manufacturing base. He said, “Along with local businessmen, we are also inviting the overseas Pakistani entrepreneurs to invest in the country’s industrial sector.” Besides the expatriates, the local businessmen in the joint venture will also enjoy a five-year tax holiday with no questions.
The prime minister said that the government is doing all for the promotion of export-oriented industries, which is vital for the country’s socio-economic development and progress. He stressed on the importance of the industrial and manufacturing sector for wealth creation and development of the country.
The prime minister mentioned the anti-wealth creation and anti-profit-making policies of subsequent governments as major hurdles in the way of required growth in industries in Pakistan. He said that the policy of nationalisation in the 1970s, a socialist philosophy, changed the trajectory of growth and industrial development in Pakistan, which was moving in the right direction some 55 years ago.
He said that it is the present government which decided to promote industries particularly the export-oriented industries. The prime minister said that the present government’s two-pronged industrial policy focused on the promotion of the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) through improved regulations, ease of doing business; and the revival of sick industrial units. He said that economic self-sufficiency is necessary for a free and independent foreign policy.
The PM referred to a graph-chart, which he showed in his February 28 address to the nation, and said Pakistan, during the 2000-2020 period, remained at the lowest position in terms of growth in exports as compared to countries including Rwanda, Vietnam, India, China and Bangladesh. “Lack of long-term planning, shortage of dollars, less or no growth in exports forced the country to approach the International Monetary Fund (IMF),” he remarked.
Khan said that foreign remittances showed a record rise due to incentives given to overseas Pakistanis. He said, “Overseas Pakistanis are our national asset and we are removing hurdles in their way to invest in businesses in the country.”
He further stated that Pakistan needs to attract the nine million overseas Pakistanis to invest in their homeland by providing incentives and giving them “confidence in the protection of their hard-earned capital”.
Presenting the salient features of the new industrial package, Minister for Industries and Production, Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtyar said that under the package, tax rate will be decreased by widening the tax base.
He said that overseas Pakistanis will be given a five years exemption for investment in Pakistan and that no questions will be asked for investments in the industrial sector. He said that investors keen on revival of sick industries can also benefit from this package. TLTP
