Business community laments seizure of containers

Says daily work has been halted while exports face continuous decline

KARACHI: Pakistan Apparel Forum Chairman Muhammad Jawed Bilwani has urged the Punjab government to immediately release the containers it has impounded, saying that the move has adversely affected business activities in the country.

“Punjab government’s move to thwart sit-in of opposition parties was a move to kill business activities,” he said in a press release.

He said that due to the impounding of large number of containers, the business community has been facing huge losses as most containers are stuffed with import or export goods as well as perishable items that have failed to reach destinations.

“The textile sector, in particular, is facing massive difficulties due to the shortage of yarn. Export consignments are getting delayed due to non-availability of containers and ultimately they will have to make air shipments. If the situation persists, large number of sea shipments will have to be made by air which will put huge financial burden on exporters,” the release quoted Bilwani as saying.

For instance, if one shipment is made by air, freight charges go up from $3,000 to $15,000 whereas there is hardly a saving of $4,000. In other words, if two or three shipments are made by air, it will make it impossible for small exporters to survive.  The exporters of Punjab will suffer the most due to air shipments and if export consignments are not shipped on time, it will also send a negative message to foreign buyers, he added.

Bilwani further said that during the past four years, the country’s overall exports have declined by 20% and any further damage to this fragile number will prove fatal for the export sector.

Due to halt of business activities during the last three days, the country has already suffered losses of billions of rupees.

KCCI’s displeasure

Earlier, Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) on Monday urged the government to release the confiscated containers.

“We are neither in favor of the sit-in nor against it. We are business people who only demand an enabling business environment which has to be ensured by the government,” KCCI President Shamim Ahmed Firpo said in a statement.

Firpo said that the transporters were unwilling to carry goods upcountry. About 25,000 to 30,000 loaded vehicles have been parked by transporters because they feared that the government may confiscate their vehicles upon entering Punjab or Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry Senior Vice President Khalid Tawab earlier commented that in 2014 a large number of vehicles were detained for the same purpose which were then burnt, looted and damaged. The business community in general and the goods transporters in particular suffered heavy losses.

Supreme Court’s decision to form a commission to probe Panama Papers eased political tensions on Tuesday. As a result, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) called off its November 2 locked down of the capital.

However, the business community is still worried because it may take at least a few days before the situation returns to normal. They urged the government to immediately order law and enforcement agencies to hand over the containers to the relevant owners so that importers and as well as exporters resume their businesses.

Business people say current political uncertainty has affected the business environment of the country. The poor economic situation is not only making it impossible to create fresh employment opportunities in the country, but is happening at a time when foreign workers are also facing pressure in other places.

The slowdown in the growth of remittances, especially from oil-producing countries, is in large part hurting Pakistan as well. The current scenario may just worsen an already delicate situation.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 2^nd, 2016.

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