FAISALABAD: Thirteen-billion-rupee development package for Faisalabad will be announced very soon which will be a part of the Annual Development Programme of the current fiscal, said Fiazullah Kamoka Chairman NA Standing Committee on Finance, Revenue and Economic Affairs.
He was addressing a "Meet the Press" programme arranged by Engineer Hafiz Ihtahsam Javed, President Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (FCCI).
The function was also attended Farrukh Habib Federal Parliamentary Secretary for Pakistan Railways, Shahzad Khurrum MNA, Shahid Ahmed Sheikh Chairman WASA, Kashif Zia of Pakistan Hosiery Manufacturers & Exporters Association (PHMA), Chaudhary Muhammad Nawaz from All Pakistan Cotton Power Looms Association (APCPA), Arif Ihsan Malik and Imran Mahmood of All Pakistan Bed sheets and Upholstery Manufacturers Association APBUMA) in addition to Talat Mahmood Senior Vice President FCCI.
Kamoka said that Chief Minister Punjab Usman Buzdar had visited Faisalabad on the special directive of Prime Minister Imran Khan and personally discussed the development related projects of the metropolis. He said initially Rs13 billion had been allocated for the development projects which would be announced very soon.
Comparing the current setup with the previous governments, he said the problems of the business community were intentionally ignored by the previous governments, however now the entire government machinery was at tip toe to resolve their genuine problems within the available resources.
Regarding FBR, he said it had been reactivated to facilitate the taxpayers through automation which would also plug all loopholes of corruption.
About reducing Cost of Production (COP) and Ease of Doing Business, he said NA standing Committee on finance had approved the "One Window Operation" bill which would hopefully be passed in the next session of the National Assembly.
Regarding economic policies of the government, he particularly mentioned the new energy package and said it would facilitate the industrial sector in general and SME sector in particular. He said that as a result of overall policies all industrial units of the city were running with full capacity and its positive impacts would trickle down to the masses by the end of this year which would also resolve the most ticklish issue of inflation.
About duty on Yarn, he said that issue had been included in the agenda of NA Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue. "We will make extensive consultation with all stakeholders," he said, added that soon that issue would also be resolved.
About an additional toll-plaza right in the middle of Faisalabad-Pindi-Bhattian Motorway, he agreed that it would create unnecessary problems for the frequent travellers.
He assured that he along with other parliamentarians from Faisalabad would have a special meeting with federal minister for communication Murad Saeed and convince him to remove that toll-plaza immediately.
Responding to a question, Faizullah Kamoka explained the financial health of Pakistan and said that "our total tax collection is Rs 4000 billion. Out of it 58.5 percent are gone to the provinces while Rs 2700 billion is being paid for the loan installment which the previous Government had received."
"Similarly, Rs 600 billion is required to run the government machinery while Rs 700 billion is required for the Annual Development Programme. About inflation," he termed it an open war against the cartels and mafias and said the government was committed to control inflation and people would soon feel visible relief in their lives. He termed recovery of deferred amount in the electricity bills during corona lockdown as an anti-people step and assured that he would contact concerned government departments to immediately resolve this issue up to the satisfaction of masses.
Sheikh Khurrum Shahzad MNA said during the tenure of the previous government, the exporters were treated like beggars when they demanded their refund claims. He said now refund claims of sale tax and DLTL had been cleared for the months of August and September. He further said that textile and construction sectors were working with 100 percent capacity which had created millions of new job opportunities.
He said a summary to withdraw import duty on Yarn had also been prepared which would be approved very soon. He said cotton production declined during the last 15 to 20 years, however now the government was working on disease resistant and high yielding cotton seeds which would help in enhancing overall cotton production. He said "in 2013 during the tenure of the PPP government, our exports were around 24 billion dollar which stumbled to 21 billion dollar in 2018 during the period of PML-N." He said in 2013 Bangladesh export was also around 25 billion dollar which jumped to 39 billion dollar in 2018. He said that due to financial constraint the government could not afford to enhance the salaries of its employees but the private sector has given a rise of 5-10 percent to their employees only due to the hefty export orders received from different countries.
Earlier, President FCCI Engineer Hafiz Ihtasham Javed welcomed the journalists and appreciated their role in highlighting the genuine issues of the business community at the appropriate forum. He said FCCI is a platform of the business community and "we are bound to raise their issues in addition to appreciating the government for their pro industrial steps." He lauded the industrial package and said it would have a salutary impact on the overall economy. He said industrialists were running their units with 100% capacity as they were getting record export orders. He said Pakistan had achieved an export target of two billion dollar during the month of October. "It will jump to 2.5 billion dollar if export of services sector was also included," he said, adding that 75 percent more cement had been sold out due to recent concessions awarded to the construction sector by the PTI government. He demanded one window facility for the investors intending to set up their units in Allama Iqbal Export Processing Zone. He also underlined the problems of the marriage halls and said stakeholders must be consulted enabling them to continue their business by following the SOPs in order to contain the threat of Covid-19.
Arif Ihsan Malik of APBUMA also welcomed the industrial package and demanded that the electricity load of the SME sector should be enhanced from 70 to 100KW. He also demanded to enhance the refund threshold from 12 to 15 percent for this sector. He said that local industrialists are importing 2000 air jet looms per month and hopefully its collective per annum import will be around 8000 looms. He said that government should contact loom manufacturers to set up their manufacturing plant in Faisalabad as per their long term strategy.-PR
Copyright Business Recorder, 2020
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