The Pakistan Economy Watch (PEW) on Tuesday said new rules framed to create chambers for women, small traders and cottage industry should be flexible enough to attract the business community. Some clauses in the Trade Organisation Bill 2013 approved by the joint committee of National Assembly and Senate Standing Committees on Commerce recently would only benefit the business community if it was widely accepted, it said.
The current set of rules might prove unappealing for majority of businessmen leaving the whole exercise counterproductive, said Dr Murtaza Mughal, President PEW. The legislation for setting up business chambers in every district of the country would only benefit millions of small traders and business women if conditions were relaxed, he said.
Dr Murtaza Mughal said that condition of 150 members for a chamber and 100 members for women's chambers having a valid National Tax Number would be difficult to meet in some small districts. He said that majority of businesswomen work from homes with no exposure, minimum opportunities and dependence on middlemen. "They don't possess NTNs and there is less likelihood that many would get one to secure membership in a chamber."
Similarly, many in the trading community, who were already weary of FBR's highhandedness, would find option to join chambers of small traders on the cost of exposure to tax authorities unpleasant, he said. Dr Murtaza Mughal said that existing commerce chambers were dominated by certain groups serving the interests of some medium and large enterprises with small traders having no voice.
It is an open secret that not a single chamber conducts an election but rely on selection procedure, which is a cause of heartburn among many legitimate businessmen. Free elections give more power to the voters to engage in the decision-making process, while the chambers prefer a system that is based on blatant self-interest.-PR
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