New chamber president Ali Hussam Asghar meets the Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz a month into his term; the proposals tabled were not made public.
LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif told the new leadership of the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Thursday that its “actionable” proposals would be implemented, as the provincial government leans on its e-Biz licensing portal to sell Punjab as a place to build factories.
LCCI President Ali Hussam Asghar, elected unopposed last month, called on the chief minister with prominent business leaders Khawaja Shahzaib Akram and Khawaja Waseem Afzal. The talks focused on traders’ welfare and industrialisation, according to a government statement.
Asghar also invited Maryam Nawaz to visit the chamber, the LCCI said in its own statement. She did not publicly respond to the invitation, and no date was announced.
The chamber presented proposals and recommendations on behalf of the business community, and Asghar briefed the chief minister on the problems facing traders and industrialists, stressing the need for effective steps to resolve them, according to the LCCI. Neither side disclosed the specific proposals, and the chief minister’s office gave no timeline for acting on them or said which would qualify as actionable.
A chamber that has already won one round
The meeting came a month after Asghar’s Vision Alliance swept the chamber’s elections in September, winning all 15 associate-class seats and 12 of 15 corporate-class seats on provisional results. Asghar topped the corporate poll with 1,700 votes before being returned unopposed as president, with Sardar Usman Ghani as senior vice president and Khadim Hussain as vice president, APP reported.
The chamber has already had one request met. Two weeks ago, Lahore traders thanked the chief minister after shop-closing curbs were eased at the LCCI’s request. The 9pm closing rule had been imposed under federal fuel-conservation measures.
In early October, Asghar listed the new leadership’s priorities as industrial development, export growth, investment and jobs, and said the chamber would review amendments to the province’s environmental protection law and food standards rules and submit recommendations, Business Recorder reported.
Digital licences, fewer desks
Maryam Nawaz said digitalisation was moving quickly to make Punjab business-friendly, and that red tape and bureaucratic hurdles were being removed to encourage industry. She pointed to e-Biz, the online platform for registrations, licences and permits.
The portal had received 176,243 applications and processed 146,025, about 83pc, by late September, according to figures released by the Punjab Information Technology Board and carried by APP. Departments involved in approving a petrol pump fell from 10 to two, and documents needed for a building plan from 21 to six. The LCCI ran its own training session for members on the portal this month.
The figures do not show how long approvals take, a measure investors watch closely, or how many of the processed applications were approved rather than returned.
Praise from the business side
Asghar praised the chief minister’s efforts on law and order and said she and her team were delivering exemplary performance. Akram said she was working tirelessly to turn Punjab into a model province. Maryam Nawaz congratulated Asghar on his election and thanked the delegation for its input.
Asghar said the chamber would keep a strong and positive working relationship with the provincial government to resolve business problems, promote industry and trade and lift economic activity, and that the LCCI would continue to act as a channel between the government and the business community. The meeting was meant to strengthen ties between the two sides and build cooperation on the problems facing industry and trade, the chamber said.
The warm tone masks pressures the chamber’s members face that are largely outside provincial control, including electricity and gas tariffs, federal taxes and interest rates. Lahore’s industrial units are also under scrutiny during the smog season, with the Environment Protection Department sealing 191 industrial sites across Punjab in the month to Oct. 27 and the province planning battery-backed solar pilots for three industrial zones.
How many of the LCCI’s proposals become policy, and whether the chief minister takes up the invitation to visit the chamber, will be the test of Thursday’s assurances.
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