LAHORE: According to a statement issued on Monday, the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has asked the government to provide proper participation of the private sector in all major committees.
“Only public-private partnerships can achieve economic breakthroughs.” As a result, the government should include the business sector in all economic decisions and ensure its representation in government agencies, according to LCCI president Mian Nauman Kabir.
According to Kabir, the business community, as the major stakeholder, should have representation in all important bodies such as the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra), Indus River System Authority (Irsa), or export promotion-related divisions, but this was not the case.
He questioned how suitable policies for trade and industry could be developed without the input of the key stakeholders. He said that “the business community may be the most powerful force in government,” adding that “the current leadership should take it on board and treat it like a partner.”
According to the president of the LCCI, using petroleum, oil, and lubricants (POL) prices to cover the trade deficit or absorb the state’s massive non-productive spending should not be an option. Similarly, resources such as water should not be sacrificed for the sake of a few people’s political agendas.
According to Kabir, proper representation of the private sector in public sector bodies would help promote a knowledge-based economy, export promotion, an increase in tax-to-GDP ratio, as well as overcome entity inefficiency, brain-drain, a shortage of skilled human resources, and low industrial production, among other things.