Ayesha Ghous lauds LCCI work on ease of doing business

Punjab Finance Minister Dr. Ayesha Ghous Pasha has lauded efforts of the Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry for preparing a reform agenda in respect of Ease of Doing Business in Pakistan.

While talking to the LCCI Senior Vice President Almas Hyder here at her office, Dr. Ayesha Ghous Pasha said that the Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry is supplementing the government efforts aimed at economic revival of the country. She said that government of Punjab, in collaboration with World Bank, is in the process of making economic reforms in the province.

Provincial Minister also threw light on the economic growth of the country and shared many economic milestones achieved by the Punjab government. She informed the LCCI Senior Vice President that because of untiring efforts of the Punjab government, province is rapidly turning into a hub of the investment, trade and economic activities and became top priority of the foreign investors.

The LCCI Senior Vice President Almas Hyder said that the objective of preparing report on ease of doing business in Pakistan is to identify the hurdles coming in the way of businesses and to suggest feasible solutions to the government. He 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.

He 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.

The LCCI Senior Vice President 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.

Almas Hyder invited the attention of the government towards depleting water resources that could put the country's growth at stake in the coming years. He said that 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 "Doing Business in Pakistan".