Import of oil extraction machinery from India: LCCI hails government's decision

The decision to allow the import of rice bran edible oil extraction machinery from India would play pivotal role in lessening the burden on foreign exchange, being spent on the import of edible oil. The Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) while welcoming the decision taken by the federal government termed it a step in right direction that is bound to expedite business activities in the country.
The LCCI President Shahzad Ali Malik, in a statement on Thursday, appreciated the Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, Federal Minister for Commerce Makhdoom Amin Fahim and Federal Secretary Commerce Zafar Mahmood for taking business-friendly decision.
He said the government deserves appreciation in highest terms for taking a visionary step in the larger interests of the economy of the country. The decision would help save billions of dollars being spent on the import of palm oil, he added. Shahzad Ali Malik further said the rice bran contains about 15-20 percent edible oil, which could efficiently be used for bridging the oil deficiency in the country. This would not only be helpful to fulfil the country's edible oil requirement but also to cope with the protein deficiency in the communities at risk through bran supplemented value added products, he maintained.
"The decision would not only help increase volume of investment in the country but definitely it would be bringing down the rate of unemployment as new investments would be creating large number of job opportunities", he added. Malik said that the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and industry has since long been calling on the government to eliminate hurdles in the way smooth running of businesses so that the government could be able to generate much needed revenue and the single step of granting permission to import bran oil extraction machinery would be helping the government in many ways.
Though it's a much delayed decision, yet the LCCI appreciates the Prime Minister, the Federal Commerce Minister and the Federal Secretary Commerce for accepting the LCCI demand that was a part of its budget proposals for year 2010-11, he added.
The LCCI President further said that the rice bran for being one of the main by-products of rice milling industry, has been recognised as an excellent source of edible oil, protein, dietary fiber and allied micronutrients but unfortunately in Pakistan, it is under-utilised and generally used in poultry feed and as raw material for the chemical industry, he added. It is worth mentioning that the oil extracted from rice bran has lowest cholesterol, he said.