FAISALABAD: Economic sovereignty is directly linked with the enhanced exports and the government should provide all facilities to the Pakistani exporters which are currently enjoyed by the exporters of other countries, said Dr Khurram Tariq, President Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (FCCI).

He was addressing a special function on “Export Dialogue Pakistan” which was also attended by leading economists, policy makers and businessmen in addition to former governor State Bank Reza Baqir and Federal Tax Ombudsman Dr Asif Mehmood Jah. Dr Khurram Tariq particularly mentioned the boom in PSX and said that some economic indicators have also improved and hence there was no justification to maintain policy rate at 22%. He said that distortions in government policies have played havoc with the exports while the government and FBR failed to enhance the tax base despite best efforts.

About the energy sector, he said that no industry could earn profit by consuming costly electricity at the existing tariff, hence the government should revisit its policies to facilitate industries with a focus on the textile sector.

He said that exporters are reluctant to get new orders as their capital has been stuck up in the refund regime while the finances available at market rate is unbearable. He demanded that the government must ensure immediate payment of all refunds in addition to lessen the burden of cross subsidies.

Dr Khurram Tariq also mentioned his ambitious program to transform Faisalabad from textile to technological hub of Pakistan and said that we could easily double our exports by exploiting untapped potential of services, IT and AI. He said that FCCI has hired the services of world class faculty to train young graduates in the emerging field of generative AI. “The skilled manpower could also play a key role in reorganising local industry on modern scientific lines in addition to exporting globally compatible IT and AI programs,” he added.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024