ISLAMABAD, Aug 3: The ministry of industries and production has finalised an `action plan’ for reducing the cost of doing business in Pakistan.
"This action plan is being submitted to Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz for approval," said a senior official of the ministry of industries and production.
He told Dawn on Thursday that the ministry was also in the process of finalising a new industrial policy to promote industrialisation in the country. "But our action plan, if approved, will adequately help the private sector in reducing the cost of doing business in the country," he said.
He regretted that the cost of business in Pakistan was still very high, especially in terms of acquiring infrastructure facilities, such as power, gas, water, etc. "But I assure you that our plan will play a vital role in reducing this cost. Let the prime minister first approve it, only then I will divulge in the details," he added.
He said his ministry was also formulating a `sector development plan’ to help individual sectors like steel and electrical goods. In this regard, he referred to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and said the government wanted to effectively promote small businesses throughout the country.
For example, he said the small steel industry in Gujranwala was vibrant and needed better incentives. Likewise, he said the sports industry in Sialkot would be offered adequate facilities and incentives so that its exports could be enhanced.
"In fact the purpose is to come up with localised specialisation strategy in various cities and towns to promote industrialisation," the official said. In this regard, he referred to the Engineering Development Board (EDB) which was playing a good role for helping the private sector.He said Pakistan's engineering industry needed to be brought on a par with other regional countries by removing genuine difficulties faced by the private sector.
Responding to a question, he said the ground-breaking ceremony of Pakistan's first Tools, Dies and Moulds (TDM) Centre would be held in Karachi soon. The construction of the centre would be completed within one year, he said, adding that the establishment of the TDM Centre would contribute significantly to the rapid development of the engineering sector in the country.
The proposed TDM Centre would not only substitute huge import of dies and moulds but also lead to increase in engineering sector exports, he said, adding that similar centres would also be set up in other industrial towns. "The development of the engineering sector will have a salutary effect on the engineering sector as well as the national economy," he added.
The official pointed out that all the eight skill development centres (SDCs) being set in the quake-hit parts of Azad Kashmir and NWFP would be operational by the end of this year.
At these centres, he said, about 1,500-2,000 youth would be trained in hospitality, construction and furniture making and added that experts from Germany, Japan and the Thai-German Institutes (Malaysia) would train industrial workers in the field of dies and moulds making.
He also said the TDM Centre would disseminate hands on training to employees in the engineering industry, besides launching full-fledged technical courses for fresh engineering graduates.
