Our Correspondent
Karachi
President EFP, Ismail Suttar, has strongly recommended the Hon’ble Advisor to Prime Minister on Commerce & Investment, Abdul Razak Dawood, to look into the near-extinct state of the Stationary Industry of Pakistan, due to the prolonged Covid closure of schools of almost 250 days.
Ahsan Ullah Khan, Director EFP and a senior industrialist who has been manufacturing ball-pens, gel pens, markers, fiber-tip pens, pointers and pencils for use in educational institutes, says the situation is very desperate. The business is at a standstill and there is no revenue being generated to manage wages, any more.
Mr. Khan demanded the Government to release all outstanding sales and income tax refunds. He said that grant should be given to companies for next nine months, based on last year’s audited accounts for support in paying salaries. All payments to social security and EOBI obligations should be waived off along with one-year tax relief, capping mark-up at 5 percent and subsidizing electricity and gas by 50 percent for the stationery industry.
Ismail Suttar, pays homage to all the patriotic industrialists associated with the Stationary Sector for striding along despite the visibly painful hardships.
