LAHORE (APP) - Economic growth hinges on implementation of good governance practices and value addition, therefore, the government needs to revisit its all economy related policies while taking private sector on board to break the logjam-like situation being faced by both the trade and industry. This was stated by LCCIs acting president Sheikh Mohammad Arshad while addressing a mammoth gathering of The Mall Traders led by Naeem Mir here on Tuesday. LCCI former President Mohammad Ali Mian, Executive Committee member Mian Zahid Javaid also spoke on the occasion. The LCCI acting president said that it was very unfortunate that a country that had all the resources in abundance was fast heading towards a point of no return only because of unavailability of a mechanism for implementation of government policies. He said all the policies would give desired results if they are made in consultation with concerned stakeholders and all others made in isolation would definitely not work the way they should. Sheikh Arshad said that Pakistan was the fourth largest cotton producing country of the world while we have the fifth and third largest reserves of gold & copper and coal respectively. According to a rough estimate, value of our coal reserves is around $ 3 trillion that is 187 times more than the GDP of Pakistan. It could also be an eye-opener that worth of our coal reserves is higher than the combined oil reserves of Saudi Arabia and Iran. Only 2% of Pakistani coal reserves could generate 20,000MW electricity for almost 50 years. Despite this never ending wealth, Pakistani people and industry are facing the worst power crisis, he said. He was of the view that Pakistan is under the burden of over $ 58 billion external debts and economic problems of the country are further increasing day by day. He said early construction of water reservoirs was the only solution of ongoing energy crisis and the government should utilize all of its resources to generate cheaper electricity. In addition to gold, copper and coal, the country is also enriched with vast reserves of precious stones, gypsum, salt and marble but instead of taking full advantage of these resources most of the share is being exported in raw form and a little attention is towards value addition. He said that heavy internal and external borrowing, lowest tax-to-GDP ratio, bad law and order situation, high mark-up rate, inflation, inefficiency of Public Sector Entities, corruption, bribery and nepotism are the other reasons of economic decline and only upright and honest leadership in every tier of life can help save the nation from these evils. Sheikh Mohammad Arshad also demanded the government to impose Agriculture Tax without any further delay as the Agriculture share in GDP is 22 percent but unfortunately its share in revenue is negligible and the only existing tax payers are being burdened every time which is unjustified. He said that by taking agriculture sector into the tax net, the government would be able to achieve revenue target with ease.Speaking on the occasion, Naeem Mir said that terrorism was the biggest threat being faced by the country at the moment and a wholesome approach was direly needed to curb the menace once and for all as it is not only the local investment that is declining but no foreigner is ready to visit the country. Agreeing with the LCCI acting president that the electricity shortage is hitting business activities badly, Naeem Mir said that both the trade and the industry would have to evolve a joint strategy to cope with the situation. He also stressed the need for increase in tax-to-GDP ratio by bringing untaxed sectors into the tax net.