LAHORE: The Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry has congratulated its former president and former Chief Minister Punjab Shehbaz Sharif for being elected as Prime Minister, expressed best wishes and termed it a distinction for LCCI.

In a statement, LCCI President Mian Nauman Kabir, Senior Vice President Mian Rehman Aziz Chan and Vice President Haris Ateeq said that it is encouraging for the business community that Shehbaz Sharif has been elected as the Prime Minister of Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

The LCCI office-bearers further said that they are optimistic that Shehbaz Sharif would live up-to the expectations of people of Pakistan in achieving national goals and under his leadership our beloved country would record tremendous achievements in its economy, democracy and foreign relations.

They expressed the hope that Pakistan would emerge as a global leader in innovation, security, poverty alleviation and infrastructure development. “We have all the reasons to believe that Shehbaz Sharif has every capacity to discharge his responsibilities as Prime Minister of Pakistan in the best possible manner”, the LCCI office-bearers added.

They said that the Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry would supplement all efforts of the government aimed at economic wellbeing of the country. They said that the new Prime Minister of Pakistan would have to evolve a strategy to remove all the impediments to the economic growth.

They said that the Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry has recently released its well-thought proposals for the federal budget 2022-23 which must be the part of budget document.

The LCCI office-bearers said that rupee devaluation, rising debts, taxation issues, miseries of the agriculture sector, below the mark growth of Large Scale Manufacturing Sector, high energy cost, bureaucratic hurdles and below the mark exports are the biggest barriers to the economic growth.

They said that the number of taxes and frequency of paying taxes must be reduced. Moreover, taxes may be paid quarterly instead of every month. For that matter, all Para tariffs must be merged in the main tariffs. Similarly, there should be electronic communication between taxpayers and tax departments. These proposals can make noticeable difference and win the confidence of taxpayers.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022