LAHORE: Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Tuesday welcomed the mega Kissan Package
and expressed the optimism that it would lay foundation for a revolution in the agriculture sector. LCCI President Kashif Anwar, Senior Vice President Chaudhry Zafar Mahmood and Vice President Adnan Khalid Butt said here that a record amount of Rs 1800 billion had been allocated to boost the agro-based economy. It would definitely help put agriculture sector back on its feet that was badly affected by the deadly floods in the country.
They said that Rs 13 per unit electricity, loans for solar tub-wells, Rs. 10 billion for SMEs and various other steps were the steps in right direction and would help revival of agriculture sector. However, office-bearers of the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry expressed reservations on the permission of the import of used tractors, saying that the government should review this decision as it would hit the local tractor industry hard.
They said that local manufacturers were not only one of the major sources of revenue for the government but direct or indirect employment of more than one million people was also attached
with tractor industry.
“We laud the Prime Minister’s Kissan Package but urged the government to revisit the decision
to allow the import of used tractors,” they said and added the used vehicle could spread pollution
that one of the major issues of the country. They said that the government must consider the fact that the benefit of one sector should not be the loss of any other sector.
The LCCI office-bearers said the government should abolish customs duty and reduce the input
cost of production for the local tractor manufacturers. They said that the local tractor industry
was playing a strategic role in the promotion of agriculture sector and strengthening the national
economy.
They said that if the government supported the local tractor industry, it could substantially contribute
to the national exports.
The office-bearers of Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry hoped that the government
would reconsider its decision to permit the import of used tractors in the larger interest of the economy.