LAHORE - Provincial Minister for Industries Sheikh Alauddin has ensured relief to the businessmen of Multan Road and McLeod Road saying that their issues would be taken up with Punjab chief minister.
He was speaking at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The LCCI President Malik Tahir Javaid, Senior Vice President Khawaja Khawar Rashid, Vice President Zeshan Khalil, Muhammad Arshad Chaudhry, Bao Bashir, Mian Muhammad Nawaz, Fahim ur Rehman Saigol and Awais Saeed Piracha spoke on the occasion.
Representatives of Multan Road Industrial Association informed the minister that demolition of industries for the sake of Hadyara Drain Project is not a good plan as it would not only deprive thousands of people of their jobs but would also air a negative message to the investors.
They said that demolition of industries at Multan Road would hit economy of the province hard besides applying reverse gear to the government efforts aimed at progress and prosperity.
They said that government should shelve the plan as not only the industry but government would also be the looser as closure of hundreds of industrial units of Multan Road would cause huge lose to the national exchequer in term of taxes and utility bills etc.
The minister said that business community is the backbone of the economy and their issues will be taken up with the chief minister at the earliest.
On the occasion, the LCCI President Malik Tahir Javaid formed two committees to settle down the issues of the businessmen of Multan Road and Mcleod Road.
The LCCI President said that reservations of the business community must be addressed to ensure a business-friendly atmosphere in the country.
He said Punjab is the linchpin of Pakistan's economy and it has highest contribution in the GDP of the country. The industrial sector of Punjab consists of large scale and small scale manufacturing, mining and construction etc.
As per the study recently conducted by LCCI, the share of Punjab in the national value added in Large Scale Manufacturing fell slightly from 49.3 percent to 48.9 percent during 2010-11 to 2014-15.
However, Punjab has dominating presence in Small Scale Manufacturing with a share of 71 percent in national value added. Due to consistent boom in construction industry, the share of Punjab has significantly increased from 58 percent in 2010-11 to 75 percent in 2014-15.
