November 14, 2001	Wednesday	Shaba’an 27, 1422

KARACHI, Nov 13: The Sindh government is in the process of preparing a rolling plan 2001-2006 for industries and commerce sectors to improve the overall industrial output of the province.

The plan mostly contains schemes and projects of the Sindh Small Industries Corporation (SSIC) regarding provisions of infrastructural facilities particularly in the interior of the province for the prospective investors.

A working group has been formed for the preparation of the rolling plan. The group includes Sindh government officials, representative of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Pakistan Japan Business Forum (PJBF) and one member each from the Karachi, Hyderabad and Sukkur Chamber of Commerce and Industries.

A meeting of the working group for the preparation of Rolling Plan was held on the third week of October under the chairmanship of Additional Secretary, Labour, Transport, Industries and Commerce Department, Raja Mohammad Abbas.

Members were asked to prepare viable scheme as well as proposals and suggestions for inclusion in the plan.

In the meeting, secretary PJBF, Majyd Aziz said that efforts should now be made for development of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) for future employment generation.

EPA representative said that before setting up future industrial zones, planning may be done well in advance for the provision of water supply, sewerage, storm water drainage, roads, power and gas.

The Chairman, Ad Hoc Committee, KCCI, A.Q. Khalil, who is also the member of the working group, told Dawn on Tuesday that the contribution of Sindh to the value-addition of the manufacturing sector is till quite sizable specially in sugar and textile, but overall industrial performance of Sindh in line with national trend has been in the grip of stagflationary conditions for the last few years.

He said a monthly survey of industrial output by Sindh Bureau of Statistics reveals that industrial production in 2000-2001 rose by 2.64 per cent over the corresponding period of 1999-2000, which is much lower than the national average of 7.8 per cent in large scale manufacturing and seven per cent in manufacturing as a whole.

A working paper of rolling plan says that according to the industrial census 1991-92, over 35 per cent of the reporting establishments in Pakistan are located in Sindh, which forms 53.3 per cent of the total value of industrial production in the country.

The paper says that the share of Sindh has fallen due to certain disturbances in Karachi. More than 95 per cent, around $20 billion, foreign trade is routed through here.

He said the plan basically aims at improving the Sindh’s share. In view of this, the KCCI, he added, has submitted its proposals for consideration in the preparation of the rolling plan.

The KCCI proposed that perspective plan should specify avenues for generating financing resources for its implementation. The government should not follow the precedent set by raising property tax to increase revenues.

The chamber called for only two tax collecting agencies. The number of agencies has been curtailed to 11 from 23 in budget. The rolling plan must include an infrastructure plan. The government should encourage private sector investment in mining sector particularly in coal.