The Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry has urged the government to allow 24/7 industrial operations with Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to let industry grow to fetch export revenues and overcome unemployment challenges.
While talking to a group of industrialists, LCCI President Irfan Iqbal Sheikh said that though coronavirus has shattered the economies of entire world but post corona era would bring opportunities, particularly in exports sector, at vast scale.
“We have to add to our industrial production”, Irfan Iqbal Sheikh said and added that industry would leave no loophole to implement SOPs and safety measures set by the government. He said that allowing 24/7 industrial operations would be a wiser decision as industrial sector was the main victim of coronavirus situation.
The LCCI President said that it is the industrial sector that can reduce the affects of shocks to the national economy due to coronavirus therefore government should support the industrial sector.
While calling for an immediate strategy for post-Covid-19 international arena, Irfan Iqbal Sheikh said that there is a dire need to diversify the exports in terms of markets as about 55 percent of Pakistan’s exports go to ten countries namely, USA, China, UAE, Afghanistan, UK Germany, France, Bangladesh, Italy and Spain. USA has largest share in exports (16%) followed by European Countries (11%) in total exports.
