LCCI demands end to duty on raw materials.

LAHORE -- The Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry has urged the government to lay foundation of Industrial revolution by abolishing customs/regulatory/additional duty on around 2,800 tariff lines for raw materials.

LCCI President Almas Hyder said that manufacturing sector was most important for economic growth and it should be energized through supportive measures.

'Manufacturing is the path to development, creates jobs and much-needed revenue/foreign exchange for the state', he said. He said that high cost of doing business was the major reason of below the par growth of manufacturing sector and exports of the country. He said that finest quality of Pakistani goods impress the international buyers but Chinese, Indian, Bangladeshi and products of various other countries get the benefit of low input cost. The LCCI President said that there were around 2800 tariff lines of raw materials. Although the Government has exempted Custom Duty (CD) on more than 1650 raw materials/industrial inputs in the federal budget on demand of the LCCI, there were some major raw material lines that were not included in this list. He said that another review was needed in this regard so that...