The Coordinator to Federal Tax Ombudsman Meher Kashif Younis Sunday stressed the urgent need for strengthening the manufacturing industry for sustainable economic growth.
He also sought relaxation in imports of essential raw materials to meet the pre-requisite industrial sector requirements for boosting indigenous production that’s will be instrumental in increasing the volume of pak exports as well.
Talking to a delegation of industrialists and traders led by Shahid Nazir he said the manufacturing sector is the backbone of development in general and economic development in particular.
He said this mainly because manufacturing industries not only help in modernising agriculture but it also reduces the heavy dependence of people on agricultural income by providing them jobs in secondary and tertiary sectors.
He said Industrial development is a precondition for the eradication of unemployment and abject poverty from our country.
He said it was also aimed at bringing down regional disparities by establishing industries in tribal and backward areas.
He said exports of manufactured goods expand trade and commerce and brings in much-needed foreign exchange.
He said countries that transform their raw materials into a wide variety of furnished goods of a higher value are prosperous.
The role of the manufacturing sector is of paramount significance in driving economic, social, and environmental change, with a focus on emerging economies, he remarked.
Meher said the importance of manufacturing in contributing to economic growth is well recognised by economists and investors globally.
He said COVID-19 has exposed the fragile nature of globally-dispersed manufacturing supply chains and it has reiterated the importance of creating and strengthening local and high-quality manufacturing hubs capable of serving the basic needs of their populations.
E-invest across many sectors but prioritise those that help further development, he said adding that without a strong local manufacturing sector as a foundation, growth in other economic sectors is also constrained.
