LAHORE: The Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) have urged the government not to disband the Engineering Development Board (EDB) as it would send the wrong message to foreign investors.

Expressing grave concern on the news of closing down EDB and terming it a bad proposal, the chamber asked the government to shelve the idea for the sake of the engineering sector of Pakistan.

In a statement issued on Friday, the LCCI acting president Amjad Ali Jawa and vice president Muhammad Nasir Hameed Khan said “this decision was made without taking the stakeholders on board.” They said the EDB is playing a fundamental role in promoting the engineering sector.

“EDB was established to oversee multiple areas related to the engineering sector. An important area where EDB has contributed the most is the automobile sector. It oversees the implementation of the Auto Policy, based on predefined policy document guidelines.”

It supported the vendor industry by handling various Statutory Regulatory Order’s, by assuring local content enhancement and curtailment of rollback, based on the government’s policy guidelines,” they said.

Mr Jawa said closure and shifting the responsibility of EDB would derail the engineering industry, especially the auto sector, would lead to inefficiency in the government, and lack of expertise would further complicate the situation, leading to stoppage of investments in auto sector, especially the vending sector.

To improve the circumstances, a professional CEO EDB should be appointed, based on capability to handle such an organisation, said Mr Jawa, adding that the closure of an institution is not a solution to the problems.

Published in Dawn, June 24th, 2017