Ijaz Kakakhel Islamabad
The National Assembly was informed on Friday that foreign fishing vessels are not being allowed to fish in Pakistan’s exclusive economic zone to protect the interests of local fishermen.
Minister for Maritime Affairs Ali Haider Zaidi told the house during question hour that the deep sea fishing policy has been announced after consultations with the stakeholders.
He said the bottom trawling has been banned in Balochistan as it damages the marine life and ecosystem. The minister expressed these views during question hour of the national assembly in parliament house while Speaker Asad Qaisar was on chair.
Parliamentary Secretary for Industries and Production Aliya Hamza told the house that the auto sector is witnessing an unprecedented growth. She said twenty one new entrants have entered our auto market.
She also said that online booking of cars have been introduced under new auto policy, which observed tremendous increase and the car manufacturers stop further booking of cars.
In a written reply the ministry of industry and production informed the House that there was no electric car manufacturing company has applied yet for production license in Pakistan.
However, to ensure prudent prices of electric vehicles the government has substantially reduced duties and taxes on import of CKD kits as well as CBUs in the Budget 2021-22 i.e. customs duty has been reduced to 10% from 25%.
She said the cement export has increased sixty four percent over the last three years. Over the increase of cement prices, the parliamentary secretary for industries and production said that it was due to increase in coal prices at international level.
She also claimed that the government was making concerted efforts to promote exports through facilitation of industrial sector by reducing its costs and rationalizing duties on raw materials.
Parliamentary Secretary for National Food Security Ameer Sultan told the house the government has launched programs to enhance local production of oil seeds.
He said currently 2.75 billion dollars are being spent on the import of oil seeds. He said the execution of these programs will help us cut this import bill by 600 million dollars by 2024.
He said several endeavors are being made under the PSDP Pulses project to achieve self-sufficiency in lentils.
At present, he said, lentil is cultivated on 3000 hectares in Tank. Seed of high quality has been supplied in the area so that better yield and production may be fetched.
He said some areas in Balochistan have also been identified as provincial hubs for lentil production. The House will now meet on Monday at five pm.
