All chambers agree to boycott elections if ‘charter of economy’ not signed soon

LAHORE: All the chambers of the country have agreed to boycott general elections if political parties fail to sign charter of economy at the earliest.

The consensus was developed at the International Chambers Summit 2023 organized by the Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The Summit was attended by the 54 presidents of the Chambers of Commerce and Industry in the country.

All the presidents of the Chambers also have a detailed meeting with the President of Pakistan Dr. Arif Alvi on the sidelines the Summit. They apprised Dr. Arif Alvi about the ongoing economic scenario and the grievances of the business community and called for their early resolution.

They said that right now, country needs a charter of economy more than ever. He informed the President of Pakistan that the presidents of all chambers have declared that if all the political parties do not sign charter of economy before elections, the business community, which is also an economic party, is going to boycott the general elections.

Earlier, addressing a Press Conference along with the other presidents of the Chambers, the LCCI President Kashif Anwar said that the present economic situation calls for an amnesty to energize the foreign exchange reserves so that the undeclared assets of Pakistanis can be declared and come into the economic circle.

He said that there is a lot of money in vaults and invested in land which should be taken out through amnesty. He said that amnesty should be granted across the board and unconditionally as it can bring out around $10 billion into the circulation.

Kashif Anwar further said that right now, a very large number of containers are stuck at the ports. The business community is facing difficulties due to the shortage of raw materials, machinery and other essential materials. It is demand of the business community to declare the ports as bond or shift the containers to the bond so that the demurrage and detention charges could be avoided.

Kashif Anwar emphasized on the political stability in the country which has been hampering the growth and said that it is necessary for the economic stability. He said that all the political parties will have to play their role for economic sustainability of the country.

The LCCI President said that it is duty of the government to convince the International Monetary Fund and other donor agencies to release money for the deteriorating economic condition of Pakistan. He said it’s the duty of President of Pakistan to bring all the political parties on the same page for economic betterment.

Dr. Arif Alvi said that we are going through hard times and all the stakeholders which includes general public, business community and all segments of society, should play their positive role so that we together come out of this time of lurch.

President Alvi further added that businessmen must set goals and directions in order to achieve the financial objectives of enterprises for economic prosperity, in addition to playing their role to make businesses dispense their responsibilities towards society.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023