Senate Chairman Mohammedmian Soomro has said that early development of alternative resources for generating energy and construction of water reservoirs has become more important in the wake of depleting gas reserves.
In a meeting of Site Association of Industry (SAI) about future of industries in the light of fast depleting Pakistan's gas reserves and non-finalisation of Iran gas pipeline project, he dispelled the impressing that the gas pipeline project had been abandoned and said that negotiations on gas pipeline issue with Iran were in progress.
He said that the government also negotiating with other countries for import of gas to meet Pakistan's requirements.
He noted that energy needs in the country were increasing due to fast industrialisation and improving living standard of the general public. He emphasised the need that the business community should convince the people about early construction of water reservoirs.
Soomro said that recently Pakistan has also discovered some new gas reserves.
He said that the government has visualised the situation and was making efforts for early construction of water reservoirs and efforts were underway to discover more gas and develop alternative energy resources. He said that the people have the right to express their concern over water reservoirs but it did not mean that Pakistan should not have water reservoirs.
The Senate Chairman said that tax-GDP ratio in Pakistan is the lowest, and added that the business community should persuade non-taxpayers to start paying taxes so that tax base be increased.
Regarding tax on agriculture, he said that it was a provincial matter, and added that provincial governments were looking into the issue.
He expressed hope that Pakistan would surpass the exports target of 18 billion dollars this year. He assured the business community that their budget proposals would be looked into and, wherever possible, accommodated.
He advised the business community to send a copy of budget proposals to him for his consideration and forwarding to related authorities. He emphasised the need of mechanising agriculture sector and developing agriculture machinery locally. He said that the most important challenge before Pakistan was the competitiveness of its products in international market. He said that the business community should send their suggestions to improve the policies and make Pakistan's products competitive.
He also advised the business community to invest in construction sector to meet the housing shortage that comes to around 6 million housing units in the country.
Welcoming the guests, SAI Chairman Ameen Bandukda suggested that the next budget should focus on growth, attracting investments, generating employment and reducing poverty, which is essential for long-term prosperity.
He said that the people at large should get basic necessities of life such as shelter, water, gas and electricity at affordable cost.
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