Reduction in cost of doing business and ensuring ease of doing business is vital to steer industrialisation, remarked Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FCCI) President Engineer Hafiz Ihtesham Javed.
Talking to a delegation of the Mirpur Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Javed said that in that connection the FCCI had close liaison with government officials and 22 different departments.
“We also have separate sector-specific standing committees, which discuss their problems and submit proposals to resolve the genuine issues,” he said.
The FCCI chief said that all economic indicators were moving in the positive direction. Exports hit a high level of $2 billion in October 2020 while exporters were still getting massive orders, he pointed out.
Javed revealed that his factory was facing shortage of labour for the first time in the last three decades while exporters were making arrangements to start a third shift in their respective units.
“The only negative thing is the lack of trust between the government and industrialists and to resolve this, the government must evolve and implement long-term policies,” he stressed.
He appreciated Sialkot’s model but said that the city’s entire exports were routed through its own port while for Faisalabad maximum exports were channelled through Karachi and other ports.
Speaking about the cost of doing business, he said that importers and exporters had to pay infrastructure development cess twice - first in Sindh and then in Punjab - which enhanced the cost of doing business substantially.
According to him, the 18th Constitution Amendment is responsible for double taxation of this kind.
He lamented that the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and Punjab Revenue Authority were fighting for their own share in taxes.
Mirpur Chamber President Allah Ditta suggested that both chambers should share data and enhance cooperation to further improve their overall performance.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 18th, 2020.
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