The business community has impressed upon the federal government to avoid inking new Afghan Transit Trade Agreement to save the economy and industrial sector from further damage as it will provide Indian products free access to Pakistani markets. The business community has also called for bringing the agriculture and services sectors in tax net.
The transit trade agreement would be tantamount to accepting the Indian hegemony, therefore, no self esteemed Pakistani would accept this agreement, said Asad Mashhadi, President Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI). He was briefing the media about the declaration of the conference of Presidents of Chambers of Commerce and Industry from all over Pakistan.
The RCCI hosted the conference to discuss the prevailing situation in the country. The conference was organised to discuss the local and international pressures faced by the country. Recommendations were prepared at the conference to save the industrial sector from further damages.
President Rawalpindi Chamber Asad Mashhadi presided over the day-long conference, while Mirza Abdul Rahman President Attock Chamber, Naseem-ur-Rehman Mardan chamber, Malik Ashiq Awan President Haripur Chamber, Mian Hamid Javed President Faisalabad Chamber, Muhammad Akram Badshah President Gujranwala Chamber, Malik Khalid Pervaiz President Gujrat Chamber, Abid Hussain Khokhar President Jhang Chamber, Chaudhry Shafqat Rasool president Okara Chamber and Raja Muhammad Anwar Jhelum Chamber, Shahban Khalid Acting President Islamabad Chamber and Tairq Iqbal Mughal Vice President Shiekhupura chamber participated in the conference.
"If the revival of the Afghan Transit Trade Agreement is imperative then the government should make the categories and quantities of products clear and notify them, besides providing Pakistani business community access to Central Asian Markets," Mashhadi said, adding that the entire NWFP should be included in the establishment of ROZs.
Presidents of Chambers have demanded of the government to declare the NWFP a war affected area and announce special incentives for the industrialists of the province, particularly for the industrialists of Swat and other parts of Malakand division. They also demanded special incentives for the industrialists of the Northern Areas for the revival of their industries. Asad Mashhadi said the presidents of chambers had asked the government to bring a revolutionary budget to revive the country's economy and remove distrust.
In budget proposals for the upcoming budget, the conference called for bringing the General Sales Tax to single digit from present 16 per cent, and for bringing the Income Tax rate on corporate sector to 25 per cent.
The participants of the conference demanded the inclusion of agriculture and services sectors in tax net, saying that minimum taxable amount be brought to Rs 300,000 from existing Rs 180,000 and every individual in any sector coming in this slab be brought to tax net. He said agriculture contributed 22 percent in the GDP but its share in taxation was just one percent. The multiple slab system be converted into a one rational slab, he added.
The conference termed the load-shedding a major set back to the industrial sector and asked the government to decrease the electricity tariff, Mashhadi said, adding that the government should look towards the alternative energy sources to fulfil the requirements of masses as well as industrial sector.
Mashhadi told the media that the conference deliberated on the issue of the bank loans outstanding with business community and it was demanded that bank loans to industrialists be restructured, besides giving easy loan financing to support the small and medium enterprises. He said: "banking sector has earned a lot during the last three years by squeezing the business community, but now there is the time to pay back by reducing interest rates."
The conference urged the government to settle the law and order issue in the country, especially in the NWFP without any further delay and pay concentrate towards revival of the economy. They also underlined the need of reducing interest rate and cutting down tax slabs.
The business leaders offered their full support to the affectees of Swat operation and expressed solidarity with them. They also discussed ways and means to increase the co-operation and co-ordination between all the Chambers of Commerce and Industry. The meeting also called for halting all kinds of tax audit except desk audit. Mashhadi said involvement of Chambers in the national policy making was vital for the progress of the economy. The potential of the industrial sector was not yielding any results due to law and order situation and energy crisis, he added.
The participants of the conference were of the view that Pakistan has a lot of potential as well as human resources, but due to misperception and lack of proper marketing and branding techniques, it is far behind. "We could not add value to our products due to high cost of doing business," he added.
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