The Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry has started preparing a report on "Ease of doing business in Pakistan". The objective of this initiative is to identify the hurdles coming in the way of businesses and to suggest doable solutions to the government.
The project is being spearheaded by the LCCI Senior Vice President Almas Hyder which would help raise Pakistan's competitiveness at global market place. The LCCI office-bearer said that the economic signals are not as good as being portrayed. A recent report has revealed that Pakistan has further slipped down as far as ease of doing business is concerned. "Ease of doing business in Pakistan averaged 107.63 from 2008 to 2015, reaching an all time high of 138 in 2015 and low of 85 in 2009 according a World Bank Report", they said.
LCCI President Sheikh Muhammad Arshad said that cost of doing business is one of the major hurdles hampering the growth of all sectors of economy whether it is manufacturing or agriculture.
He said that Pakistani merchandise are best of the best in the world but fast losing their due place in the international market because of high input cost in Pakistan. He said that proposals would also be incorporated in the LCCI report on "Doing Business in Pakistan" as to how costs could be curtailed in Pakistan without any loss to the revenue.
LCCI Senior Vice President Almas Hyder said that very objective of the LCCI initiative is to give helping hand to the government to expedite economic uplift of the country. He said that the report would be prepared after due consultation of the economists, technocrats and experts. He invited the attention of the government towards depleting water resources that could put the country's growth on stake in the coming years. He said that the government should focus on water and energy issues on priority basis and allocate as much as possible funds for water reservoirs to ensure water availability for the agriculture sector and to generate cheap hydel power.
He said that all sectors of economy would be covered in the LCCI report on "Ease of doing Business in Pakistan". He said that the report would be presented to the Prime Minister and the government departments for evolving an action plan. LCCI Vice President Nsair Saeed said that business community is the backbone of the economy as more than 90 percent revenue is being generated through trade & industry. Therefore, the businessmen should be given due facilitation and for the purpose the LCCI would continue to play its role proactively.
He said that Federal Board of Revenue would not be able to achieve its revenue target without providing a business friendly atmosphere to the business doing people. The LCCI office-bearers said that during their meetings with a number of trade and industry associations, they came across quite a few issues that could be resolved only through facilitation to the business community. They said that the Lahore Chamber had already appealed to the government for the simplification of taxation procedures and expansion in the tax net.