A delegation of the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry Tuesday visited the Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry and had a detailed discussion on the prevailing economic situation in the country. LCCI President Almas Hyder presided over the meeting while Senior Vice President Khawaja Shahzad Nasir, Regional Chairman FPCCI Abdul Rauf Mukhtar, Vice President Sheree Arshad and other office-bearers were also present on the occasion.
Almas Hyder gave a detailed briefing on the measures initiated by the Lahore Chamber for the economic revival. He also threw light on ongoing economic challenges and stressed the need for collective approach to bring the country out of these problems. Both the Lahore Chamber and the FPCCI have their own strengths and joining of hands by the two institutions would bring positive change at the economic front, he said. Pakistan cannot make an impact at international level only because of lack of awareness about latest business methodologies, he added.
The LCCI chief said that the Lahore Chamber was also spending a considerable amount of energy on the collection of necessary business-related data that would help bring convert certain unorganized sectors into organized ones. He said the duties and taxes on the import of industrial raw materials should be reduced to bring down the cost of doing business.
He said the constraints faced by non-filers of tax returns are hampering the overall business environment because such limitations have caused great trouble for two of Pakistan's prominent money-making sectors. According to the business community and other stakeholders, the automotive and real estate sectors are the primary victims of this policy, he added.
FPCCI Regional Chairman FPCCI Abdul Rauf Mukhtar and Vice President Sheree Arshad stressed the need for maximizing interaction between the FPCCI and its constituent trade bodies to get resolved the issues being faced by the trade and the industry.
They said there was a dire need to jointly work for improving Pakistan's perception that has been tarnished by the enemies of the country for their ulterior motives and to achieve this goal all the chambers of commerce and industry of the country and the trade bodies would have to work hand in hand.
The FPCCI's strength lies in the strengthening of its constituent institutions therefore all the chambers should work for the promotion of trade and industry, they said and added that collaboration among public, private sector, academia and intelligentsia are a prerequisite to achieve the goal of progress and prosperity.