MCCI demands creation of south Punjab province

MULTAN: The government should create a new province of south Punjab on administrative grounds to alleviate the miseries of this region as it is the demand of all sections of the society.

Multan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) president Israr Awan made this demand during a briefing to the officers of 23rd Senior Management Course of National Institute of Management who visited the MCCI here on Friday. The MCCI president said the civil servants should not hesitate to compensate the “have-nots” and must strictly adhere to the merit. The participants were given a brief presentation by Malik Asrar Ahmed on the profile and contribution of south Punjab to the country's economy.

He said south Punjab was producing 80 percent cotton, 45 percent wheat, good quality mango, dates, including its’ role in facilitating the FDI, and ease of doing business in this area. The meeting provided an opportunity for the MCCI to highlight matters regarding an effective government strategy and proper policy implementation to improve the country’s economy and attracting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), he said. MCCI former president Khawaja Jalaluddin Roomi said that doing businesses in Pakistan was not viable as they cannot compete even with Bangladesh due to higher cost of production.

He said they cannot avail the opportunity of GSP-Plus status due to these constraints. He said there was no need of granting subsidies to the textile sector rather government should supply cheaper electricity and LNG, besides developing better infrastructure. “International agencies have declared Multan and south Punjab as second good option for doing business. There is a great potential to invest in cotton ginning, weaving, spinning, agro-based industry, power generation, tractor manufacturing, oil and flour mills,” he added.

Women Chamber of Commerce office-bearer Syeda Sarwat Zahra said the Multan chamber was encouraging the skilled ladies and women entrepreneurs by providing them equal opportunities to introduce their products in the international markets.

Chief instructor Samina Intizar agreed that the issues of lack of timely decision-making and proper policy implementation were one of the most important issues impacting the FDI.

She opined that these issues can be addressed by giving incentives to the decision-makers and devising a practical action plan to address these concerns after proper and thorough research.