The Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) Wednesday lauded the Industrial Support Package (ISP) announced by the Prime Minister Imran Khan.
In a statement issued here, LCCI President Mian Tariq Misbah, Senior Vice President Nasir Hameed Khan and Vice President Tahir Manzoor Chaudhry said that the package was a need of the time and will help the industry in this post-Covid era in a big way.
Prime Minister Imran Khan announced ISP that offers additional consumption of electricity to small and medium industries at 50 percent less rates which means; big and small industries would pay 25 percent less on consumption of additional electricity over the next three years.
The LCCI office-bearers said that this package will patronize the efforts being made to increase exports and productivity. They said the cost of doing business in Pakistan compared to other regional countries has increased the input cost of the industry that makes it almost impossible to compete with regional players in the international market.
The LCCI office-bearers said that due to the previous lockdowns and ongoing uncertainty and threat of closure for a second time, the export oriented industry is already in a deep distress, adding that the package announced by the Prime Minister will ease the pressure on industry and will definitely impact the industrial performance in a positive way.
They further added that along with the industrial support package, the government should also provide conducive environment for the industry to grow.
They said the government should also support and encourage exports both traditional and non-traditional items through its friendly policies. In order to reach out to achieve maximum export markets our commercial counselors should play their pivotal role by introducing our products in the world.
The LCCI office-bearers said that decision to done away with ‘Peak Hours’ would help bring down prices of daily use items as this would definitely curtail cost of doing business to some extent.