Pervez Hanif, Chairman of The Founders, has urged the government to take the industrialists' community into confidence prior to finalising any decision for enhancing bilateral trade during the visit of Indian Commerce Secretary to Pakistan.
In a statement issued here on Monday, Pervez said though the business community welcomes the visit of Indian Commerce Secretary Dipak Chatterjee, yet it simultaneously has some reservations, which need to be considered at the government level.
"Our industry is in a take-off position, which could be affected, thus the government should take practical measures to dispel this impression.
The Ministry of Commerce must be conscious of inclusion of items to be traded between Pakistan and India to safeguard the indigenous industry.
The authorities concerned should take rational decisions, which could help survive Pakistani industry on one hand, and fetch benefits of bilateral trade to our industry on the other," he maintained.
The Indian economy is larger than ours, while its industry is functioning on large scale as compared to Pakistani industry, The Founders chief said adding, besides, the Indian industry is enjoying full support of its government, which provides electricity and other utilities at the cheapest rate, which substantially reduces their input cost.
As a result, the Indian industry is not only competing with its neighbouring countries but also gradually capturing the world market only due to low input cost and government's incentives, Pervez said.