Cotton can strenthen Pakistan's economy-Sheikh Fazal Elahi


MULTAN, Oct 14: A delegation of the trainee officers along with faculty members at the National     
 Institute of Management (NIM) Karachi visited the Multan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) for an interaction with the local business community. The officers, belonging to the various departments of the federal and provincial governments, were nominated for the 26th Mid-Career Management Course (MCMC). Addressing the officers, President Multan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) Sheikh Fazal Elahi said that  civil officers should fully cooperate with the private sector for the economic revival of the country.he said that Civil servants should not hesitate to compensate the "Have-nots" and they must strictly adhere to merit so that unapproachable people could attain their right easily. He said that the civil officers should play an active role in resolving the issues of the business community so that the private sector could grow at its real potential. He further said that the public-private partnership was the best approach to take the country forward for sustainable economic development and civil officers should partner with the private sector in steering the country out of the current challenges. Sheikh Fazal Elahi said that since Pakistan is an agricultural country it must take measures to boost up the cotton, wheat, rice, Maize and gram production besides making Pakistan self-sufficient in Oil-producing seeds like canola, Sunflower, Soybean, Palm, etc. He said that our economy depends upon cotton production but we have neglected this cash crop and its production dwindling down from 15 million to 10 million. He stressed the need for a supply of certified,well-germinated, heat resistant and qualitative cotton seed. He said that the cost of cotton production had increased consequently it became non-profitable produce.   Senior vice president MCCI Mian Rashid Iqbal threw light on the geographical significance of Multan and said that the South Punjab produced almost 80 per cent of the total production of cotton, 40 per cent of total wheat production. She further said that the South Punjab produced the best quality mangoes in the world. She said that there was a lack of infrastructure which demoralizes the new investors.

Former president MCCI Khawaja Muhammad Usman also informed the visiting officers about  significance of Multan which is the oldest live city of the world and briefed them about the history of MultanThe Luncheon was attended by Former Presidents Muhammad Sarfraz, Khawaja Muhammad Yousaf, Khawaja Muhammad Usman Iftikhar Ali Shah,Aasim Saeed Sheikh, Khawaja Muhammad Farooq,Aurangzeb Alamgir. The visiting officers agreed that the issues of lack of timely decision making and proper policy implementation is one of the most important issues impacting FDI and opined that it can be addressed by giving incentives to the decision-makers, and a close Public/Private partnership whereby focus groups could be made to identify areas of concern and a practical action plan suggested to address these concerns after proper and thorough research.Shagufta Waris said that this visit of the NIM Course members provided an opportunity for a good interaction between the members of senior government bureaucracy, who will have a profound role in future policymaking in the country, and foreign investors on overall business and economic climate of the country.
The meeting provided an opportunity for MCCI members to highlight matters relating to the need for an effective government strategy and proper policy implementation for improving the country's economy and attracting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), considering the fact that Pakistan offers a number of incentives for investors which are not available in the regional countries. 

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