President Dr Arif Alvi said that the business community, government, parliament, and judiciary should work in tandem to identify and resolve issues faced by the country to bring about economic, financial and political stability. The president expressed these views while talking to the presidents and representatives of 54 chambers of commerce and industry from across the country, including the representatives of women’s chambers of commerce, small and medium chambers of commerce, APTMA, and the Stock Exchange, at the President’s House. Representatives of the pharmaceutical sector, P@SHA, and Pakistan Poultry Association were also present at the meeting.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Arif Alvi said that Pakistan is facing an economic situation which necessitated a general election based on the consensus of all the political stakeholders to elect a fully representative government empowered and mandated to take critical and difficult decisions and provide solutions to the problems and issues faced by the nation on the political, economic and financial fronts.

The president said that signing the agreement with the IMF is an important decision which is likely to help the country resolve its financial and economic difficulties, and added that a representative government mandated by the people could sell the difficult decisions to the people of Pakistan.

He termed political stability in the country as the basic and most vital element for creating financial and economic stability and stressed the need for all political stakeholders to promptly start negotiations and deliberations on setting out an agreed-upon date for holding a general election.

The president said that most of the country’s import bill consisted of petroleum products used for energy production and transportation. This cost could be substantially reduced by adopting an all-encompassing energy, water, and gas conservation strategy, which is implementable and can deliver results with the commitment and support of the business community, he added.

He also emphasized the shifting of business and industrial processes to green energy, like solar and wind, to not only reduce the import bill but also to protect the environment.

The president said that the women’s chambers of commerce should provide leadership to women entrepreneurs and start-ups and help them in securing loans from the banks to set up their own businesses. He added that although the banks have promised 100% disbursement of loans to all the women applying for loans, unfortunately only 5% of the loans set out had been availed.

He asked the women’s chambers of commerce to lead the way and help women in securing loans to promote their businesses. He also emphasised the need to utilize the skill training programs launched by Meta to help women gain marketable skills and sell their products and services online.

President Arif Alvi said that Pakistan needs to promote the cottage industry in the country, especially at the grassroots level, adding that unlike the prevailing thinking, the scope of the cottage industry has expanded to include gemstone and diamond processing, chip design, and other sophisticated fields.

He also sought the focus of the business community in five areas of importance, including the provision of a harassment-free work environment to women working in businesses, factories and industries, adding that women’s inclusion and financial empowerment is the most important step for the economic growth of the country.

He said that differently-abled persons, who made up about 10 per cent of the population, are not included in the economic mainstream and called upon the business community to create customized and productive jobs to give them gainful employment which also added value to the employers. He said that the business community’s active involvement is needed to ease the burden of mental health issues, which is at 24% in Pakistan, reduce the mortality rate due to breast cancer, and bring out-of-school children to the school system.

While commenting on the proposals of the business community, the president said that the trust laws of the country need to be amended to facilitate the registration and operation of trusts, which will help promote business in the country.

He stressed the early resolution of the issues faced by the business community amicably and prudently to improve the prevailing situation. He said that a consultative process should be started as soon as possible to help the business community to resolve their issues in terms of taxation, import clearance and opening of Lines of Credit.

During the meeting, the representatives of the business community shared their concerns regarding the economic situation of the country and suggested solutions to overcome the present financial issues.

The president was also informed by the business community about the non-clearance of raw materials used to make life-saving drugs at the country’s ports, which, according to one member of the business community, if not handled promptly, would lead to the shortage of essential and life-saving medicines in the country.

Credit : Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk