LCCI for raw material export body

LAHORE: The Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) on Tuesday urged to establish an authority for exporting raw materials to promote industries and sectors that can produce raw materials for export-oriented industries.

Calling for establishing an “Export Raw Material Authority” in the country, Progressive Group’s central leader and LCCI Executive Committee member Muhammad Ejaz Tanveer said an authority could help in the efficient management of the country’s natural resources.

By regulating and controlling the raw materials, the authority could ensure that these resources were not depleted too quickly or unsustainably exploited. An authority could encourage or mandate the processing of raw materials within the country before export.

This could lead to the creation of more value-added products, which could fetch higher prices in the international market and create jobs domestically, he added.

Tanveer proposed “the government to extend a 10-year tax exemption to the industries producing raw materials for the export-oriented sectors”.

Similarly, these industries or sectors should be given loans on a priority basis and against low mark-up. Such units should also be given a one-time duty exemption on import of machinery of their use, while for setting up factories plots should also be given on 10-years easy instalment.