The Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry Wednesday pledged to expedite its efforts for the early establishment of Cottage City on the pattern of Industrial Estates in the country. The pledge was made by the LCCI President Irfan Qaiser Sheikh while speaking at the oath-taking ceremony of newly elected office-bearers of Sewing Machine Association. Chairman of the Association Ghulam Sarwar Hajvari also spoke on the occasion.
The LCCI president said a little attention towards cottage industry could help the government get rid of many economic problems including unemployment and poverty that have now started taking their toll. The LCCI president said the cottage industry is widely acknowledged solution to fast increasing poverty and urbanization but unfortunately the governments in the past had failed to give a clear cut plan for strengthening this important area of business.
The LCCI president said that cottage industries have also gained immense importance world over. There is great demand for hand-woven carpets, embroidered work, brassware, rugs and traditional bangles. These are also considered important export items and are in good demand in international market.
He said that a program for developing and promoting cottage industries both in rural and urban areas is more feasible as compared to large scale industries that need huge resources. When people are employed gainfully in villages, the migration of people from rural to urban areas will reduce. The acute problems of housing, sanitation, education, transport and health will be reduced in urban areas, the LCCI President added.
The LCCI president said the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry would continue to facilitate the cottage industry people in the larger interests of the country. Speaking on the occasion, Chairman Sewing Machine Association Ghulam Sarwar Malik urged the government to allocate a piece of land measuring 100 acres for Cottage City in the province so that the people attached with the cottage industry could be able to work for the economic well-being of the country. He said the industry having a workforce of 25 people and having a turnover of Rs15 million per annum should be declared as cottage industry. He also urged the government to evolve a joint methodology in collaboration with the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry for increasing the exports of cottage industry products.
He said there was no second opinion about it that the Cottage industry has been a building block of economic development. It is, he added, the first form of manufacturing and pave the way for the industrial revolution. On the one hand cottage industry provides income to the state while on the other hand, it creates employment opportunities but unfortunately the step-motherly treatment of the successive governments towards the cottage industry has played havoc with it.
He said cottage industry is the major victim of the electricity shortage and the recent recession because they don’t have the resources to generate their own power or stock their production in recessionary periods.
They tend to eat whatever capital they have during the recession therefore they deserve more facilitation from the government as compared to the regular sector.
Earlier, the LCCI president Irfan Qaiser Sheikh took oath from the newly elected Chairman of Sewing Machine Association Ghulam Sarwar Malik, President Haji Ch. Javaid Iqbal, Vice President Sh. Saeed Qaiser, General Secretary Mohammad Imran Mirza, Joint Secretary Amjad Ilyas, Press Secretary Shahzad Aslam and Treasurer Imran Alvi.
