The Industries, Commerce & Investment and Skills Development Department (ICI&SDD) is one of the major government institutions determined to promote industrial development, trade, investment and skills development in the province. Whereas, industrialization and harnessing domestic and foreign direct investment in Punjab are the lynchpin of ICI&SDD's endeavors, the department is striving hard to synchronize all functions entrusted to it under the Rules of Business, for making Punjab prosperous and a major contributor to the national economy by creating an enabling environment for the businesses to flourish and making Punjab as an investors' preferred destination. In the same vein, efforts are underway to accelerate establishment and colonization of the Industrial Estates and Special Economic Zones (SEZs) across Punjab. It is anticipated that the department's ongoing engagements with the potential investors will help mobilize FDI in Punjab, especially in the SEZs.
The ICI&SD Department, Punjab understands and acknowledges the need to catalyze the industrialization process for achieving economic prosperity and desired employment level. For this, department's emphasis is on improving governance mechanism, investing in human capital and facilitating private sector for achieving private sector led growth. The SME sector, which constitutes a large chunk of our economy, requires handholding and support of the Government. Accordingly, various intervention, including special projects aimed at enhancing productivity and competitiveness of the SMEs and financial assistance schemes have been introduced for enabling SMEs scale up their businesses.
Youth bulge, majority of which belongs to Punjab, has to be educated and trained on contemporary knowledge areas which are not only demand driven (both domestically and internationally), but also hinge upon entrepreneurialism. To this end, the role of our traditional technology institutions and specialized technology universities is of paramount importance. Rigorous efforts are being made to enable these institutions impart the desired knowledge and skills to the youth.
