Targeted killings in Karachi: businessmen want clear-cut policy to resolve issues

Businessmen have expressed grave concern over repeated incidents of target killings in Karachi and asked the government to take immediate action to improve law and order situation in the country in general and in Karachi in particular as national economy cannot cope more shocks.
They said this while speaking at Pakistan Industrial and Traders Associations Front (PIAF) meeting here on Wednesday. Chairman PIAF, Irfan Qaiser Sheikh chaired the meeting, while among others vice-chairmen PIAF, Iqbal Baig Chughtai and Khawaja Shahzeb Akram, former LCCI Presidents, Mian Shafqat Ali, Mohammad Ali Mian, Zafar Iqbal Chaudhry and LCCI senior Vice President, Sheikh Mohammad Arshad spoke on the occasion.
They maintained that the national economy was already facing a number of issues due to energy crisis and high cost of doing business. Addressing the meeting, former LCCI President, Mian Anjum Nisar said that repeated incidents of target killings in Karachi had taken the country's economy hostage and the government needed to come up with a clear-cut policy to resolve this issue once for all as a major chunk of foreign trade is being handled in Karachi.
He said, "Due to fresh wave of target killings in Karachi, the business activities had come to a complete halt and the situation was fast heading towards a point of no return. Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani must take up the matter with all the political parties to find out a permanent solution of this problem."
Mian Anjum Nisar said there were a number of other challenges posed to the country including high inflation rate, low tax to GDP ratio, rising unemployment, fiscal indiscipline, growing poverty, expensive credit to private sector, alarming increase in government borrowing, poor revenue collection coupled with increased spending and low foreign investments.
He invited the attention of the prime minister towards large scale manufacturing sector that is not growing at the moment. He asked the government to announce a package for the manufacturing sector so that it could sustain. He also expressed his grave concern over heavy borrowing by the government and called for controlling expenditures by the government.