ISLAMABAD, July 9: The Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI) has demanded of the government to revive special industrial zones in the country, which will help encourage investment in the country.

According to the proposals submitted to the Ministry of Commerce for the upcoming trade policy 2003-04, a copy of which was made available to Dawn on Monday, the RCCI suggested that a ‘tax holiday’ should be announced in the trade policy for the new projects in value added sectors worth over $1 million.

It was recommended to government to direct Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) to further slash bandwidth prices. It was proposed to create information technology funds to co-invest with local entrepreneurs to buy out call centre abroad and shift business to Pakistan.

The chamber urged the government to implement the pharmaceutical deregulation plan. This will not only lead to higher prices, but to greater and freer competition will ultimately drive prices downward as was done in India where the market has already been deregulated.

It was suggested to the government to remove 10 per cent duty on raw materials and allow duty free imports of laboratory equipment, plant and machinery.

The chamber asked the government to allow import of precious stones for processing and sale. The Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) should set up and encourage more training centres for jewellry cutting and calibration along the lines of fashion design schools set up in the textile sector.

It was proposed that in addition to lending for pesticide, seeds and fertilizers, the State Bank should actively encourage agricultural loans for farmers for sophisticated investments such as grading plants, polishing plants, fruit processing equipment sugarcane harvesters to help them enter more value added export based segment.