KARACHI: President of Korangi Association of Trade and Industry (KATI), Saleem-uz-Zaman, has said that immediate steps should be taken to normalize economic activities as well as other industries related to the export sector.

He said that maintaining business and industrial process during the current pandemic is a major challenge, and wise steps have been taken at federal and provincial levels to address it.

The government and the industrialists can come up with a joint strategy to ensure uninterrupted production in the industries.

He said that the industries could not be stopped completely, and the government should implement smart lockdown instead of complete lockdown.

Saleem-uz-Zaman said that the number of vaccination centres should be increased.

He said that in Korangi industrial area alone, more than 65,000 employees have been vaccinated in collaboration with the Sindh government, which shows that the spread of corona is not possible due to the industrial production process.

Saleem-uz-Zaman said the government should allow all businesses with SOPs to continue, but a complete lockdown of industry and trade would increase unemployment to dangerous levels.

He said that now that the current wave of corona is proving to be very dangerous, there is a need for the government, the people and other national institutions to work together in order to eradicate corona.

President KATI said that Pakistan’s strategy to deal with the last corona epidemic was universally appreciated, adding that not only vaccination was necessary to prevent the current corona epidemic but also precautionary measures were being taken at the government level to prevent it.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021