Business community of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has urged upon the government for taking steps for ease of doing business in the province in general and newly merged districts (NMDs) of the erstwhile FATA in particular.

The call was made during a seminar on Roadmap for Economic Development in NMDs of KP "Initiatives & Future Plans" jointly organized by Small & Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA) and Federation of Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) here on Thursday in Archives Hall.

A large number of industrialists and traders including the representatives of the chamber of commerce from various tribal districts and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa attended the seminar at large.

Besides, Special Assistant to KP CM, Abdul Karim Khan, General Manager (GM) SMEDA, Javed Iqbal Khattak, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), KP Board of Investment and Trade (BoIT), Hassan Daud Butt, Atlas Khan (Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP), former president FPCCI, Haji Ghulam Ali, vice president FPCCI, Qaiser Khan Daudzai, Fazal Elahi, Sartaj Ahmad Khan, Zahir Shah and others addressed the participants of the seminar.

Special Assistant to KP CM, Abdul Karim Khan has urged upon the business community to furnish their proposals and recommendations for inclusion in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Industrial Policy 2020-30.

Addressing the participants of the seminar, former president FPCCI, Haji Ghulam Ali complained of discriminatory attitude with the business community of the province in business related matters.

He was highly appreciative of the performance of SMEDA, but critical of the performance of the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) and using of delaying tactics in the release of funds from the Export Development Fund (EDF).

He said that though Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has a share of Rs 250 million in EDF, but it has not being given its due to share.

Haji Ghulam Ali, who is also general secretary of the ruling Businessman Panel (BMP) of FPCCI urged all public sector organizations to make doing of business easy. So, besides generating employment opportunities, it would also increase our exports. In this connection, he assured full cooperation to government in this regard.