LAHORE, July 31: Industries and Production Minister Liaquat Ali Jatoi on Thursday said that provision of more incentives and rationalization of tariff structure could help expedite industrialization process in the country.

“Greater the rationalization of tariff, more will be the industrial activity,” he said while speaking at a discussion on “National productivity policy” at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

He said the present government was pursuing the policy of giving more concessions and incentives to the industrial sector for overall betterment of the national economy.

He said most of the tariff rationalization process had been completed and added that more efforts were being made to effect more revision in duty structure.

He said Pakistani industry needed to be prepared for the upcoming WTO regime and added that the activities like BMR, technological upgradation and compliance of the international social and environmental regulations could help achieve this target.

He said it was the private sector which could play a pivotal role in boosting the national economy. “The government is no more interested in doing business,” Mr Jatoi said.

The minister said the government had made a lot of efforts to resolve the problems of the industrial sector. “Yet we need not to be complacent,” he said.

Mr Jatoi said that a summary on bringing all the agencies interacting with the industries one way or the other under one umbrella was being finalized.

Mr Jatoi said that more efforts were needed to promote small and medium enterprises (SMEs) as these were major job providers.

He said the National Productivity Organization (NPO) would be revamped to make it more active and effective.

NPO director general Saquib Mohyuddin gave a presentation on the concept of productivity. Among others who spoke on the occasion included LCCI president M. Yawar Irfan Khan and vice-president Muhammad Ali Mian.—APP