LAHORE: Deputy Speaker National Assembly Qasim Khan Suri on Wednesday said that the present government is ready to work with any government in Afghanistan and policies will also be formed accordingly which will enable our exporters to export freely to Afghanistan.
While speaking at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the deputy speaker said that in recent years our exports to Afghanistan have been decreased substantially mainly because of unrest in the neighbour country. The low volume of formal trade with Iran is due to the sanctions imposed on the neighbouring country.
“We have many times requested the Iranian Envoy to Pakistan and their trade authorities to provide us the information of how they are trading with other countries without the banking channels so that we could follow the same model for the trade expansion between two countries but they have not responded to our calls despite our numerous efforts,” said Qasim Khan Suri.
Suri said the business community is more than welcome to participate in the standing committees of the Parliament related to the trade, finance and economy. The government will listen to the business community and will work hand in hand with them to increase the business activities in the country. The government has also ensured that the business activities must continue during the COVID-19 which is the sign of commitment we have for the assistance of our businessmen, he added.
The deputy speaker said the economy is imperative in the uplift of any country. “Sadly we don’t have a strong democratic system which supports and endures the constructive policies of the previous governments. This is the reason behind the absence of the strong trade policies,” he said, adding that we will make sure that the business-friendly policies should continue for the long term. He assured that the Lahore Chamber would be the part of the economic policy.
He said overpopulation is the main reason behind the lack of facilities, adding that at some stage of COVID-19 spread, we had strong concerns that if this disease spreads more, how we will be able to provide basic health facilities at this large scale. He said we didn’t even have ventilators and we were importing petty items like masks to fulfil our needs, adding that now we are not only producing masks and ventilators but also exporting these items.
Qasim Khan Suri said recently we have been under pressure to accept Israel and form trade relations with them for the betterment of our economy, adding that “we are an ideological state, we not only live with this ideology but will protect it,” he added.
President LCCI Mian Tariq Misbah requested the Deputy Speaker to play a special role in engaging the members of Parliament for introducing effective legislation to control the ongoing price hike in the country that is not only adding to the cost of doing business but also making the cost of living out of the range for common people. He requested the members of parliament to formulate a special charter for enhancing the process of industrialization in the country which needs to be implemented regardless of the change of federal government.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2020
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