Nominations for Saarc Chamber of Commerce & Industry: Who has made country a source of laughter?

The infighting between top stakeholders of Federation of Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) has reportedly made Pakistan a laughing stock at the level of SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

This year Pakistan is scheduled to take the presidency of SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry but two nominations for the position of President have made it very difficult for the secretariat to take a decision.

Former President, FPCCI, Engineer Daroo Khan nominated himself as President of SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry but after the new President Mian Anjum Nisar took over he nominated former Senator Ghulam Ali for this post.

Insiders claim that some aspirants to senior positions at the SAARC Chamber were not happy with Daroo Khan for not nominating them for these positions and they advised the new President to scrap the nomination of former FPCCI President.

Meanwhile, senior leader of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and former Vice President of FPCCI, Fehmida Jamali said that FPCCI's nomination for the executive committee in SAARC countries Chamber of Commerce seems to be politically motivated, which has clearly compromised the country's image and regional trade.

"Prime Minister Imran Khan and Minister for Foreign Affairs Shah Mahmood Qureshi must intervene in the matter immediately and give necessary directions to FPCCI to revisit the list of names as it's a matter of the country's reputation," she added.

According to Jamali, Pakistan stood as a novel example where politics had stifled trade. This is the reason our exports are continuously falling while regional competitors in the SAARC region like Bangladesh and India, are enjoying positive growth.

India's nominations on SAARC Chamber for the executive committee through FICCI and Confederation of Indian Industry possess a combination of brains with a versatile knowledge of industries, corporate sector and a command to sell India's point of view in the apex trade body of the SAARC.

Jamali further stated that SAARC Chamber of commerce is an important platform for Pakistan to lobby the country's business prospects in an appropriate way and it was expected that FPCCI under its new President Mian Anjum Nisar may show some maturity on these matters, but when we look on the list of the names, it is clear that President FPCCI nominates on political grounds which is unprofessional.

"What we may tell the SAARC countries that we don't have at least ten dynamic business personalities in our country who may represent Pakistan in apex trade forum as a member of the executive committee," she questioned?