ISLAMABAD: Deputy Chairman Planning Commission of Pakistan, Dr. Nadeem-ul-Haq has linked sustained economic growth to economic reforms with special focus on changing mindset, efficiency improvement and incentives for performance.
"We are lagging behind in reforms," he remarked while talking to journalists here adding that economic reforms were the way forward to enhance efficiency and productivity.
However, for all this there is a dire need of bringing about changes in the overall mindset by adopting new ideas as 'adoption of new ideas takes time," he added.
Haq said it took long to make people accept the idea of privatization and trade liberalization.
He underscored the importance of privatization and outsourcing, which he said has produced good results and helped productivity.
He highlighted the importance of enhancing reliance on the private sector as growth strategy to ensure sustainable economic growth in the country saying that job of the government should be policy-making and regulations.
"Government should be responsible for policy making and regulations while the private sector should be facilitated and provided conducive atmosphere to operate businesses."
He was of the view that privatization has the great role for enhancing economic growth and highlighted the importance of closing all departments and entities that dont positively share in over all economic growth.
He said there was a need of developing a system where efficient people are hired adding that they should be supported by incentives to produce good growth results.
However, he deplored that things were not the same as should have been in the country.
He also pointed out the existing weaknesses of the regulatory systemsaying there were places where regulatory is weak.
For instance, he added, we have been treating just textile, cement, sugar and automobile sectors as industry and have left out several other sectors to be included in the industry.
"We have not given the construction sector status of industry which has been a big sources of job creation. similarly he added retailing, warehouses, entertainment and hoteling should have been declared industries which we failed so far".
He specially urged for bringing improvement and efficiency in large state own entities like PIA, Pakistan Railways and power sector organizations by employing efficient and honest executives and managers besides plugging leakages in these organizations.
"We can achieve higher level of higher and sustainable economic growth by improving the performance of these organizations for higher productivity",he remarked.
He said that government has initiated new growth strategy which aims at harnessing the community 's entrepreneurial energy.
Dr.Haq said that essential difference between the new growth strategy and those of the earlier exercises was that the new one emphasizes on the micro economic foundations of the macroeconomic framework.
He added that the new strategy recognizes that with private investment forming a large and increasing part of the total investment, measures to increase the latter must aim at improving the profitability of private climate, to reduce the cost of doing business and to romove impediments to entrepreneurship.
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