LAHORE: Terming the “Charter of Economy” as need of the hour, Deputy Chairman Senate Saleem Mandviwalla said on Monday that this charter should be followed by all the governments to help stabilize the economy.
“Economic policies should not be changed as per wishes of political parties as no country can move forward without a stable economy,” he said while speaking at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry on Monday.
LCCI President Mian Tariq Misbah, Vice-President Tahir Manzoor Chaudhry, former LCCI presidents Mian Misbah-ur-Rehman, Zafar Iqbal Chaudhry, Sohail Lashari and others spoke on the occasion.
On the demand of the LCCI president, Mandviwalla said the chambers should form a committee in collaboration with the Federation of Chambers of Commerce & Industry that will be notified and assured that the members of the proposed committee will be called in the meetings of concerned Senate bodies.
Saleem admitted that the issue of refunds is hitting the business sectors hard; hence, the system of refunds needs to be fully automated on the pattern of developed countries
“I would take this matter with the finance minister”, he added.
Terming the existing volume of exports as a matter of concern, he said that Pakistan’s exports are far less than Bangladesh and Vietnam despite the fact that the country has the ability to boost the exports to US 50 billion dollars.
Emphasising the need for a separate system for Export Development Fund (EDF), he said the EDF should have a separate bank account and should be given directly to the business community.
He said that budget process starts from January and budget proposals of business community should reach the government, FBR and Senate by the end of February so that these can be discussed and be made part of budget document.
He revealed that he has received many requests from all over the country from businessmen who have been harassed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) which should not be allowed to take action against the business community as the businessmen and industrialists are already dealing with other departments including the FBR, FIA, SECP and others. The NAB should facilitate the business community by opening up a helpdesk at the LCCI as was done in Islamabad Chamber.
“Only trade and industry can put the country on the path to economic stability”, he said, adding: “Industry cannot play its due role in the presence of gas shortages, high input cost and delay in refunds etc.”
LCCI President Mian Tariq Misbah in his address said that our industry is trapped in a cycle of negative growth rates and stagnation of exports in the last few years. Industrial growth rate was negative by 2.64% in last year while our exports are stuck around US 21 billion dollars.
He said that there is a dire need of tariff rationalization to give boost to the industry. He proposed that all the raw materials not manufactured locally must attract zero Customs duties.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021
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