ISLAMABAD: Abdul Razzaq Dawood, Advisor to the PM for Commerce has said that Pakistan is looking forward to expanding the footprint of foreign companies in the country by creating effective policies in order to ensure greater ease of doing business.
Addressing audiences at the launch of Coca-Cola Beverages Pakistan Limited (CCI Pakistan) Socio Economic Report Launch here on Friday, the Commerce Adviser said the goal was to expedite economic activities and facilitate the corporate sector as much as possible so more companies such as CCI could establish strong presence locally.
He further appreciated the company for their immense contribution to the economy of Pakistan, and said Turkish company was setting an example for the rest of the sector. “Private sector plays a very important role in strengthening the economy of a country. Whether it through generation of employment opportunities or their overall contribution to GDP. Today CCI’s impact on employment in Pakistan is around 28% which is monumental.”
Later while talking to the media, Dawood said Pakistan had said it had no plan to allow duty-free import of cotton from India to bridge shortfall.
The country was currently facing one million bales shortfall due to low production that year, he said.
He said people from the industry had been demanding to make changes in duties and taxes in textile sector. However, he ruled out any changes in duties and import of cotton from India to bridge shortfall. He hoped that the country would have better cotton crop next year.
Responding to another question, he said the government would not restore a zero-rated regime for leading five zero-rated sectors in the upcoming budget.
About trade with Afghanistan and Central Asian states, he said Afghanistan had offered a Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) that was no problem.
He said the PTA items of Uzbekistan and Afghanistan were dry fruits, agriculture produce as they had no industrial production.
“There are industrial projects for us like refrigerators, chemicals, motorcycles, and several other products that can be exported to these countries.”
He said that transit trade agreement was expired with Afghanistan.
However, he added that the cabinet had allowed extension in transit agreement for three months.
He said there were three priority areas regarding trade with Afghanistan and Central Asian States. First, there should be free movement of trucks. Second, it is transit trade. Third, there should be Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA).
About the FTA with China, he said it was effective from January 1, 2020. But due to Covid there had been no further progress on it as delegations from both sides were unable to visit.
He said Pakistan and China would have to wait for one more year to make some progress on it.
The report highlighted the CCI Pakistan’s contribution to the national economy as well as the impact of its domestic social investments.
The event was graced by the presence of Chief Guest Abdul Razzaq Dawood, Advisor to the PM for Commerce, along with the Turkish Ambassador to Pakistan, HE Ihsan Mustafa Yurdakul. Other notable guests included officials from the Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Industries, Board of Investment, Additional Attorney General of Pakistan and representatives of Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), WWF Pakistan and senior management from CCI Pakistan.
This detailed study was conducted by Kashif Malik, Professor Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS).
The study provides a detailed review of CCI Pakistan’s contributions made towards the prosperity of Pakistan over the years.
Some of the key highlights of the study revealed that the brand’s value chain had generated a percentage share of 1.95 percent of GDP, an injection of 1.74 million in the economy for every 1 million spent by the CCI Pakistan, an annual tax contribution of Rs30 billion, additional Rs210,000 paid by the brand’s suppliers and vendors for every 1 million paid in taxes.
Further, the report also underlined massive employment opportunities generated by CCI Pakistan to engage the local workforce through 2,500 direct and over 10,000 indirect employments.
Through its flagship CSR project “PAANI”, the CCI Pakistan is providing clean drinking water to over a million beneficiaries a day through its 28 water filtration plants installed nationwide, while TABEER has been making waves through its women empowerment initiative, in addition to other areas of socio-economic impact as highlighted in the report.
The report’s findings reaffirm the CCI Pakistan’s commitments as a responsible corporate citizen contributing towards the prosperity of the country. Moving forward, the company will continue to explore new avenues beneficial for the people of Pakistan as well as for the country.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021