The Former Chairman of Pakistan Poultry Association and former Senior Vice President of the Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry Abdul Basit Thursday urged the government to immediately convene an All Parties Conference to prepare a 20-year Charter for Revival of Economy. In a press statement issued here, Abdul Basit said that the very objective of the Charter for the Revival of Economy should be keeping the economic policies independent of political force in the country. As, he said, it had been observed that since the very inception of Pakistan, we had seen many governments coming and going and almost every government came up with its own economic vision but as soon as the new government assumed the office, working on a new economic agenda was started. And due to inconsistency in economic policies, today the country is facing multiple internal and external challenges. Continuity of the economic development therefore suffered. There used to be a five year plan and now we have annual development programme. This shows that we are living just on day-to-day basis. There is no long term policy. He said that Pakistan was a land of opportunities. It has no dearth of talent. More than half of its population is below the age of 25. Its available workforce is around 85 million. It has all the four weather season with huge tracts of fertile land. Coal reserves among top five in the world the worth of these reserves in international market goes into trillions of dollars. The copper reserves declared by the state amount to more than a trillion dollars in international markets. Gold and precious stones available in the region has tremendous potential amounting to 700 billion dollars. Its dairy sector production is fifth in the world ranking. Its tourism sector has a huge potential under explored due to law and order situation. He said that almost all the areas of economy including agriculture sector should be discussed in detail at the APC. It is suggested that the agriculture sector must now be upgraded into process and semi-process industry. The value addition for our agricultural produce should go beyond the dependence on cotton textile. Cooked and semi-cooked food should become the main engine of growth. The issue of governance for providing security to the economic zones must run high on the agenda of the state. Our potential for strategic location has been undermined by disturbances in Balochistan and border areas of Khyber PK. It has badly affected Gawadar’s potential to serve as the trade gateway from Central Asia to ASEAN and South African territory. The state must avoid all foreign influences on running its economic and political policies. Only then will we be able to enforce this agenda of growth. Abdul Basit said that Pakistani could be workshop of the world provided its workforce properly trained. He said that Pakistani could get rid of IMF and World Bank by building water reservoirs including Bhasha and Kalabagh Dams. He said that $ 3 billion could be saved only through the completion of Kalabagh Dam and up to 40% of oil import bill could be curtailed if this project is given go ahead by building political consensus. He also stressed to increase productivity in the country.
