LAHORE, May 10: Kashmir Affairs, Northern Areas and Information Technology Minister Qamaruz Zaman Kaira said on Saturday the government had decided to convene a special cabinet meeting to discuss the energy crisis.

Experts and chambers would also be invited to give proposals to resolve the crisis, said Mr Kaira at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry. He said the government was trying to bridge the gap between demand and supply of electricity as not only the industry but the commoner was also suffering on account of power shortage. He said the government was alive to power shortage and other issues all of which had been discussed threadbare in the four cabinet meetings.

He called upon businessmen to help the government get a breakthrough in the resolution of the Kashmir dispute because informal diplomacy could also work miracles sometimes. He said the government was taking measures to promote trade between held Kashmir and Azad Jammu and Kashmir which would bring the people living either side of the Line of Control closer.

He said the government had divided the country into 14 regions to develop the information technology (IT) sector. Aggressive investments would be made to equip 1,400 cities and villages with the IT facility. The government offered scholarships to students for the promotion of technology and special attention was also being paid to vocational training and skill development to remove the shortage of skilled workers.

Chamber President Muhammad Ali Mian said the government should try to resolve the Kashmir issue as India and Pakistan could not increase bilateral trade to the desired level due to it. No confidence building measures could work without the resolution of the issue.

He said the annual growth rate of computer industry was 20 per cent three years ago and the government was getting 3.5 per cent Withholding Tax and giving 5 per cent duty differential to local assemblers.

The imposition of 15 per cent sales tax on locally made computers, monitors and printers in 2005 had, however, played havoc to the indigenous industry and encouraged smuggling of components including, Note Book, RAM and CPU. The growth rate had reduced to 12 per cent. The government should withdraw the sates tax and restore 5 per cent duty differential to facilitate the revival of industry.