Businessmen push govt for reforms

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Businessmen push govt for reforms

Mansoor Ahmad Friday, July 20, 2012 LAHORE: Pakistani businessmen who traditionally oppose any reform or measure that puts additional financial burden on them are now pushing the government for reforms. In two recent instances the government managed to increase resources for infrastructure and research on the initiative of businessmen. It has increased the cess on cotton by 150 percent and imposed gas development surcharge on industries using gas in order to create resources for the development of this sector. The textile industry pushed the government to increase cotton cess from Rs 20 per bale (of 170 kg) to Rs 50 per bale. This would increase the total amount collected under this head from Rs 400 million per year to Rs 1000 million. This cess is used for research and development of cotton crop. The notification in this regard was issued on July 5, 2012 to ensure higher collection of cotton cess for the coming cotton crop. After the introduction of the free market mechanism in the cotton market the textile millers now realise that they would have to pay export parity price to the cotton farmer, said former chairman All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) Gohar Ejaz. He said the industry noted that Pakistans cotton yield had remained stagnant for almost two decades and the textile sector had to depend on imported cotton to meet its needs. In contrast the yields in neighbouring China and India have increased appreciably during the past 20 years, thanks to their institutionalised research and development on cotton seed, said Ejaz. He said unlike India and China Pakistan lacked resources to initiate creditable cotton seed research projects because of a scarcity of funds. Ejaz said most of the amount recovered from cotton cess was utilised on payment of salaries to the cotton scientists and very little was left for a field experiment. Highly learned individuals are demotivated as they cannot conduct research because of the shortage of resources. Moreover, those who managed to make some fruitful inroads in cotton seed development were not rewarded, he said. Ejaz said the textile industry asked the government to increase the cotton cess on the condition that the private sector that contributed this cess would have a major say in its utilisation for the purpose of research. He said that the newly constituted Pakistan Central Cotton Committee had 33 members of which eight were from the public sector. From the private sector there are five nominees of APTMA, three of Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association, three nominees of Karachi Cotton Association and one cotton grower from each of the four provinces, he said. Ejaz hoped that the private sector dominated Pakistan Central Cotton Committee (PCCC) would be able to deliver what the earlier body had failed to do. He said the CEO of PCCC would also be from the private sector. Reforms have always been pushed by the governments in Pakistan against stiff resistance from the entrepreneurs, said Yunus Kamran FCA. He said that in India businessmen pushed their government for reforms and once these reforms were instituted the Indian economy embarked on a sustainable growth path. Kamran said the private sector in Pakistan had now realised that growth would remain elusive if it continued to act as rent seeker instead of coming forward and guiding the government to create resources for development from the private sector. Print This Page Copyright The News International. All rights reserved

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7/20/2012