LCCI chief discusses economic issues with policy makers.

LAHORE -- Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) President Mian Tariq Misbah met with various policy makers in Islamabad in order to make policy advocacy to convey the viewpoint of the business community before budget.

The Lahore Chamber's spokesman told media here on Sunday that the purpose of these interactions was to have favourable policies for facilitating trade and industry to the maximum extent.

The LCCI president had meetings with the parliamentarians including Federal Minister for Energy Hammad Azher, Minister of State for Information Farrukh Habib and Cabinet Secretary Sardar Ahmad Nawaz Sukhera and presented doable suggestions for the revival of trade, industry and economy.

During the meeting with Federal Minister for Energy Hammad Azher, the LCCI President discussed the LCCI budget proposals for the FY 2021-22 and called for special treatment for the trade and industry in the context of COVID-19.

Federal Minister Hammad Azher assured the trade and industry would be given due consideration and special relief in the Federal Budget 2021-22. He said that COVID-19 had posed serious challenges for the economy and the government was making all out efforts to bring economy back on rail.

About energy sector, the minister said that a structured approach was being adopted for timely completion of in the power sector. He said that circular debt, upgrade of transmission and distribution system and improved service delivery in the power sector were the areas of prime focus. He said that high cost of electricity generation, circular debt and leakages in the transmission system had made the power sector financially challenging. 'The key focus of the reform process is to bring efficiency, cost effectiveness and sustainability to the system', the minister added.

While having meetings with the State Minister for Information Farrukh Habib and Cabinet Secretary Sardar Ahmad Nawaz Sukhera, the LCCI President particularly discussed the issues of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).

Farrukh Habib said 'We are making dedicated...