LAHORE, June 29: The business community should prepare collective recommendations to give boost to economic activities and the Punjab government would not delay implementation of all doable proposals.

This was stated by Punjab Industries Department Secretary Irfan Ali at a meeting with the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) members on Saturday.

The secretary said development of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) had a key role in economic turnaround and would be given priority through a well co-ordinated and tailored mechanism.

Development of local brands and Human Resource would be the ingredients of the recipe for strengthening the SME sector that had been facing multiple challenges for the last five years.

Mr Ali said liaison with the LCCI would further be improved and he would have monthly meeting at the Lahore chamber to listen to the problems being faced by the business community.

“The government is alive to the issues being faced by the private sector and taking appropriate and immediate measures to overcome them. An acute energy shortage and law and order situation has kept the economy hostage in the last five years but now solution to economic issues would be there sooner than later.”

Earlier, LCCI President Farooq Iftikhar called for revolutionary reforms to put the economy back on rails. He urged the industries department secretary that all the stakeholders should be taken onboard while preparing industry-related policies.

Calling for establishment of more technical institutions, the LCCI president said the present number of technical institutions is not competing with the fast growing population of the province.

Industrial estates, said Mr Iftikhar, should be exempted from loadshedding of gas and electricity completely as the industrialists had been unable to meet targets for the local market let alone meeting export targets.

The LCCI president said undue interference of social security department, EOBI and labour department had been some of the many predicaments. Instead of providing facilities or incentives, the industrialists were being harassed by these departments, which was a matter of grave concern.