KARACHI: Chairman of the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue Qaiser Ahmed Sheikh has apprised the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) that parliamentarians are fully aware of the critical economic and financial situation in the country.
He promised that his committee will always be available for FPCCI to relay their complaints, problems, recommendations and proposals to all the relevant ministries and institutions. Moreover, he sought the FPCCI’s assistance regarding research- and evidence-based proposals for various sector, so that the committee could approach the ministries with the proposed solutions.
MNA Dr Nafisa Shah said that their committee will create a mechanism for regular liaison with the apex body of industrialists and businesspeople, and suggested that women, minorities and other vulnerable segments of society should be taken on board by the FPCCI for an inclusive economic growth.
MNA Dr Fehmida Mirza expressed optimism that the resilience of Pakistan’s business community will help the government ease the current economic and financial crises. She said that her committee will support FPCCI on the issue of signing of an apolitical charter of economy.
FPCCI President Irfan Iqbal Sheikh said that the high-powered parliamentary committee was visiting the chamber’s offices for detailed consultations and setting a direction for the parliamentarians to influence the economic, monetary, fiscal, industrial, trade, taxation and social-sector policies in the broader national interest.
While welcoming the members of the delegation, he said that the community of businesspersons, industrialists and traders has been largely neglected by the lawmakers, particularly with regard to policymaking for industrialisation, import substitution and broadening of the tax base.
He expressed profound concerns that all the avenues that can provide the much-needed foreign exchange are showing a downward trajectory — namely, exports and remittances.
The visiting delegation was led by Qaiser Ahmed Sheikh, the chairman of the committee, and included the likes of Dr Nafisa Shah, Dr Fehmida Mirza and Ms Wajiha Qamar.
SVP of FPCCI Suleman Chawla said that the chamber has nothing to do with politics and is ever-willing to support the positive and growth-oriented initiatives of the government. He, however, called for representation of his apex body in all the federal and provincial policymaking institutions and bodies – as presentations and occasional consultative sessions are not enough until and unless the business community can participate in policymaking forums through their experiential inputs.
Former FPCCI president Mian Nasser Hyatt Maggo said that the government should start the implementation and operationalisation of special economic zones and export processing zones. Industrialists can no longer afford industrial plots at the rate of 30-40 crore rupees per acre, he added.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023