LAHORE - The Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry has urged the Punjab government to encourage local computer brands in its drive to establish computer labs in over 4200 secondary schools all over the province. This was stated by LCCI President Mian Muzaffar Ali while talking to a delegation of Pakistan Computer Association here on Friday. The delegation headed by the Convener, LCCI Standing Committee on Information Technology, informed the LCCI President that the local computer brands, pre-qualified with the Services and General Administration Department (S&GAD), have been denied participation in the bidding for Rs3.2 billion contract for installation of computer labs in secondary schools in the province which is sheer injustice. The delegation was of the view that keeping all the top local computer brands out of bidding would not only put a very negative impact on the local computer manufacturers but would also add up to the mounting import bill of the country. They said the Punjab govt's procurement wing's notification dated Sept 11, 2008, after granting pre-qualification status to these local IT companies, declared it necessary to invite them in the bidding for purchasing any IT products by the govt, along with other multinational companies. According to them, the notification listed the pre-qualified companies included Raffles, Inbox, CTI, CMC-Online and MIT-Orazon while the names of international computer brands were IBM/Lenovo, Compaq/HP, Dell, Acer and Fujitsu/Siemens. They alleged after the decision of the Punjab government to computerise 4,200 secondary schools all over the province with a hefty amount of Rs3.2b, some top ranking officers of the Punjab government in connivance with the multinational companies devised a criteria favouring multinational companies and discouraging local computer manufacturers. The Local Computer manufacturers said that on the one the hand, the govt claims to promote local industry while on the other its policies were practically crushing the local manufacturing sector. At the end of the meeting, the LCCI President Mian Muzaffar Ali assured the local computer manufacturers of his full support saying that he would raise the issue with the Punjab government as if the local investors would not be given due encouragement, no foreign investor would put his money in any new venture.