Private sector may be included in Senate panels

Upper house chairman assures businessmen of full support in resolving key issues

ISLAMABAD:

Senate Chairman Muhammad Sadiq Sanjrani has said that the business community is driving economic growth in the country and has assured them that he will extend support for resolving their key issues and will facilitate them in promoting trade and industrial activities.

At a meeting with a delegation of the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI), Sanjrani said that he would consider giving representation to the ICCI in the Senate Standing Committee on Commerce and other business-related committees so that the input of business community could be considered during the legislative process. He said the government was focusing on reviving the economy and was committed to overcoming all economic challenges in cooperation with all the stakeholders including businessmen and civil society. The Senate chairman assured the delegation that the government would play the role of a facilitator while the private sector would have to take the lead in promoting the economy.

Speaking on the occasion, ICCI President Sardar Yasir Ilyas Khan said that despite the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic, the business community was making utmost efforts to revive economic activities, but it needed support and cooperation of the government for the promotion of trade and exports.

He said that better representation for major chambers of commerce and industry in standing committees of the Senate and National Assembly would facilitate the government in making strategic decisions including budget preparation in consultation with the business community.

Khan emphasised that the government should take the business community fully on board while finalising free trade agreements (FTAs) with different countries.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 24^th, 2021.

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