The Central Board of Revenue Chairman, M. Abdullah Yusuf, has said that joint venture between private and public sectors is a necessity for speedy economic development of the country.
He was addressing the participants at the Third National Business Industry Best Achievement Awards ceremony held here under the auspices of Business Industry Promotion Association of Pakistan on Friday.
Senator S.M. Zafar, Minister of State Kamil Ali Agha and MNA Mehnaz Rafi were also present on the occasion. The CBR Chairman said that private sector has to come forward and act as an engine of growth with the support of the government to accelerate the pace of economic development.
He said that the current high economic growth rate should be sustained to address the major issues like poverty and unemployment. For this purpose, there is a need to enhance investment, either through increased foreign investment or to generate it locally. These measures would also help increase per capita income, which is not at the desired level. He opined that Pakistan has to be very competitive in terms of logistics and labour productivity to compete with competitors like China and India.
Referring to the ongoing reforms in CBR, he said that major objective of these reforms was to bring efficiency and transparency in the taxation system which could ultimately benefit all the stakeholders particularly the taxpayers. The introduction and implementation of Universal Self-Assessment Scheme (USAS) had not only given confidence to the taxpayers but also had saved their time, energy and cost of doing business in Pakistan.
He said that by virtue of change of systems and procedures and simplification of rules and law, "we have been able to change the mindset of the people". The reforms in customs administration like implementation of Pakistan Customs Computerised System (PACCS) at three major port areas including PICT, QICT and KICT, cargo clearance time had been reduced to a few hours as compared to 7/8 to 15 days in the past. Later, he distributed certificates among excellent performers in various fields of business and industry.