LAHORE - Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) on Sunday called for encouraging local manufacturers in China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects to give much-needed boost to local industries.

LCCI President Malik Tahir Javed said that local industries should be given a level playing field to get optimum benefits by involving them in various projects initiated under CPEC. He said that giving all benefits and control to foreign companies would be an injustice with the local industries, which were already working in challenging conditions. He suggested that local manufacturers should not be ignored at any cost while granting incentives to foreign companies, citing that equal opportunities for local manufacturers would help in industrial expansion in the country.

The LCCI president said that projects like CPEC had the capacity to support local economy by increasing the demand for locally manufactured goods. He said that such increase in demand would not only allow full utilisation of the existing manufacturing potential but also encourage manufacturers to increase their capacity. This would generate much-needed employment opportunities as well as contribute a sizeable amount of revenue to the national exchequer, he added.

To a question, he said that construction of new dams was a must to check poverty. He said that economic growth was dependent on low-cost power generation; therefore, all possible measures should be taken on war footing to speed up work on such projects, besides starting the new ones. Diamer-Bhasha Dam would generate 4,500MW electricity and pay back its construction cost within a few years, he added.

He said the business community had always strived and supported all the government initiatives, which ultimately ensured economic turn-around and well being of the common man.