President, Sarhad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (SCCI), Usman Bashir Bilour has said the renaming of the chamber as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KPCCI) is our constitutional right and we will make all out efforts to get it changed.
Speaking in a Guest Hour Programme of the Peshawar Press Club (PPC), he said that some friends had objected the renaming of the chamber as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KPCCI). He said that they would also seek help of the judiciary in this regard.
The SCCI chief said that D. I. Khan and Mardan chamber have supported the renaming of the Sarhad Chamber as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chamber, saying that in case of the effectiveness of the small chambers they would not have become members of the prime chamber of the province.
He said that the trade body has prepared vision documents for the development of industrial and tourism sectors in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He said that the vision documents have been prepared in consultation with the stakeholders in the province. The document, he said, would be very soon presented to both the federal and provincial governments, saying he is confident that the implementations of the documents would help the provincial economy stabilised.
Terrorism and militancy, he said badly affected the economy of the province while industrial and trade activities have come to a complete halt. Bazaars and industrial estates, he said presented a deserted look. Usman said that the trading community of Peshawar have rendered the sacrifices of both life and properties and for this purpose, he has contacted Senior Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Bashir Ahmad Bilour and requested him for halting 25 percent increase in the rent of the properties of the district government for a period of three years.
He said that the provincial government accepted the request of the chamber and announced no increase in the rent of the district government properties for a period of three years. Usman is son of the Senior Minister in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa cabinet Bashir Ahmad Bilour and nephew of the leader of the Businessman Forum of Pakistan, Senator Ilyas Ahmad Bilour. Usman said that after assuming charge of the office of the president of the chamber, he set some targets for himself, which, he said have been achieved under the guidance of the later and support of the business community.
The top most target, he said was the financial assistance of the terrorism affected traders and shopkeepers, which was provided for the first time in the history of Pakistan. Furthermore, he said Prime Minister Gilani on the demand of the chamber had declared Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as war affected area and announced a special financial package.
The financial relief package, he said though was comprising financial assistance for the victims of the bomb explosions, but it was withdrawn due to financial constraints. He said that a delegation led by him took up the matter with Chief Minister, Ameer Haider Khan Hoti, who approved the release of Rs 160 million, which were distributed among the affectees of bomb blast through bank cheques and shopkeepers were enable to continue their businesses. He said that on the demand of the Sarhad Chamber the Board of Directors of Peshawar Electricity Supply Company (PESCO) has been restructured and three private sector members have been inducted. He also demanded the representation of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on the Board of Directors of SBP, PIA, SNGPL, BoI and other federal government institutions to help resolve the problems faced by the business community of the province.