Political parties urged to collaborate for economic uplift

Business leaders stress the importance of unity across sectors

RAWALPINDI:

The participants of the two-day 16th All Pakistan Chamber Presidents Conference (APCPC) held under the auspices of the Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI), urged the government to take all stakeholders on board before preparing the annual budget for the fiscal year 2024-25. They, otherwise, warned of rejecting the budget.

The business representatives questioned if the 53 chambers of the country could get united, why couldn’t five political parties, asking all political parties to work together for the Charter of Economy (CoE).

Presidents and representatives of four provinces, Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan and women chambers participated in the APCPC.

RCCI President Saqib Rafiq told a presser that through the chamber presidents' moot, the message was sent to the government that all businessmen of the country were united. He said that one-window operations should be enabled to remove barriers to the business community, adding all the forces had to unite for the revival of the economy. Rafiq called for steps for the development of agriculture, information technology and education systems.

Another office-bearer Ahsan Iqbal made it clear that the business community would reject the budget if it wasn’t consulted for proposals. A chamber member doesn’t become a member without tax. We are not interested in a business-friendly tax policy. Economic indicators are improving due to government initiatives and the stock market is going up which is good,” he opined.

Iqbal also called for resolving the wheat dispute with the farmers, improving trade relations with Iran and accelerating work on the CPEC projects in collaboration with China.

Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) president Iftikhar Ahmed put his eight behind promoting green energy as an alternate energy source. He said that for the success of the economic policies, all chambers should be consulted by [the government].

“If the construction sector works, the industry will work. Plots should be leased for the industry. All political parties should ensure that they work together for the betterment of the country,” he suggested.

RCCI Group Leader Sohail Altaf said that Pakistan was currently experiencing a difficult economic situation.

LCCI president Kashif Anwar, FCCI president Khurram Tariq and other business representatives also addressed the press conference.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 20^th, 2024.